#oc: Mr Prader

[dioles-writes]

• OC FIC •

Masterlist | Characters: Felix (he/him), January (he/him), Maddox (he/him), Akali (he/him), Avil (she/her), Alzena (she/her), Nyssa (she/her), Astley (he/they), Rory (they/she), Kuali’i (he/him), Wilder (he/him), Gunther (he/him), Adelio (they/he), Bliss (she/her), Winola (she/her), Mr Prader (he/him), Cora (she/her), Reagan (she/her)

Characters in purple all belong to @jiphenn and Winola belongs to @sleepsloooop

“Excited?”

Bliss smiled at Felix, stepping closer to him. She wasn’t in uniform yet, her short hair pulled back by barrettes. He grinned at her, already feeling jittery. “Mhm.”

Bliss glanced around, watching the cast members prepare for the play, but she seemed more subdued than usual. It was obvious something was bothering her.

“You nervous?” He asked. Bliss turned away from him, frowning slightly. “I’m not, but someone else is.” She motioned over to Kuali’i.

He was staring off into space, his expression unreadable. Bliss’ eyebrows furrowed. “He’s usually really confident but something’s up with him today.”

Kuali’i didn’t even seem to notice their staring, too wrapped up in his own thoughts. People bumped past him, but it was like they weren’t even there.

Felix hummed thoughtfully. This was his last year here, so maybe that was the reason for the nerves. And the vaccine did come out tomorrow, which was when they would find out if January was telling the truth about knowing how to hack their files…

“I’m probably just overthinking it.” Bliss elbowed him playfully, pulling him out of his thoughts with another smile. This one was genuine. “It’s fine, tonight will go perfectly.” She reassured him. Standing with her, he was sure it would be fine. Kuali’i was probably just stressed for no reason. And after this would be Winter Break, where he finally would get to relax. The whole Board Game Club was going over to January’s for a sleepover. He had nothing to worry about. Life was actually peaceful, for once.

A few minutes later, now fully dressed up in costume, Felix peered through the curtains, looking out at the crowd. It was completely packed. The theatre was filled to the brim, people whispering amongst each other. He saw Reagan and Paisley sitting in the front row, Reagan looking more anxious than Kuali’i had been.

“Nervous?”

Kuali’i stood behind him, putting a hand gently on his shoulder. “No,” he smirked up at him. “Are you?”

Kuali’i just grinned. “Nope.” He said it with so much confidence that Bliss’ judgement of him being nervous was now hard to believe. He was back to his usual smiling self.

“Excited, then?”

“Yeah!” Kuali’i’s smile grew wider. “We’ve all been working so hard so I know we’ll do great.”

“Okay, is everyone ready?” He could hear Mr. Blackburn calling out to everyone backstage. “Starting scene with Alard and Amanda, so the wind instruments get ready!”

Kuali’i fixed his hair one last time before waving goodbye to Felix. “That’s my cue to go, good luck!” And with that he ran off.

The play ran smoothly all the way to the start of the second act.

Felix’s big moment had come. He strapped into his harness quickly, getting into place. His first lines were delivered with ease. It was all going perfectly, just like Bliss had said.

“This is why humans and Dioles can never get along! All you care about are your own selfish ideals!” Desiree’s actor shouted with passion.

Felix scoffed. “Are you not the same?”

“No.” She retorted with disgust. “Because unlike you, we humans have a heart! You Dioles will always be nothing but heartless monsters.”

Felix felt himself begin to lift in the air. This was it. The percussion started building, the band growing louder and louder. This was what he had practiced for, his big moment, at the climax of the play.

“DIOLES WILL WIN!” He finished his monologue, his voice conveying pure, raw conviction, carrying through the audience.

But instead of Kuali’i shouting his next lines, Felix’s entire world was flipped upside down.

Alarms started blaring, the whole room filling with red flashing lights. “ALERT. ALERT. DIOLE ON THE PREMISES. DIOLE ON THE PREMISES.”

Felix’s blood ran cold. The entire band stopped playing, yet no one else moved. The entire theatre was still in anticipation.

There was a deafening crash. Cracks formed along the roof, splintering away, as a majority of the back wall collapsed. Debris rained down on the audience. Felix watched helplessly as people were thrown and crushed. Blood splattered the walls, the ground, the stage. Smoke filled the room. He was hanging mid-air, still tightly secured by his harness. He couldn’t move, couldn’t get down. He was completely stuck. Fear tightened around his chest. His friends were in that audience. Paisley was in that audience. Reagan was sitting in that audience.

“I came at the perfect time.” A booming voice echoed from above, laughing at the scene. Felix saw a flash of black, as a large creature emerged from the missing wall.

It was as tall, if not even taller, than the school. Its hands were jagged, pitch-black in colour, flinging pieces of debris everywhere. “‘Dioles will win!’” It repeated with another laugh. “Great delivery Felix!” It turned its head, revealing its piercing yellow eyes.

Felix was frozen in terror. He couldn’t look away from it. He could hear screaming from below, growing louder as more people ran in. Dioles. They blocked all of the exits, attacking the audience. Felix managed to reach for his harness, desperately trying to claw at the lock and tear it open. It wouldn’t budge.

“Winola!”

It was Adelio on the ground, trying to lower Felix down. “Come here and help me!” Winola ran up to him, abandoning her screaming band members and helping him with the ropes. More blood splattered on the ground as the monster threw even more debris at people, Dioles overwhelming others.

Felix’s feet finally touched on the ground, his harness making a clear clicking noise as it was unlocked. Felix had never been more relieved. He ripped it off of himself, shaking all over.

Gunfire rang off, the gym teachers aiming bullets at the monster. It just laughed, swatting the bullets away. “C’mon, you’ll have to try a little harder than that! How about a real hero fights me?” It grinned, looking around. This all seemed to be nothing but amusing to the creature. Felix couldn’t believe his eyes. It couldn’t really be him. There was no way it was really who he thought that was.

“Fine. Guess I’ll have to use a hostage.” The monster laughed, scanning around the screaming crowd. Its glowing eyes finally fell on the stage. “Oh, how about you?” It reached down, giant hand stretching towards Felix, Winola and Adelio. It had claws that must have been taller than Felix himself.

It brushed past Felix, hands closing around the person only five feet away. Felix was finally free from his harness, yet he couldn’t even make himself move. Couldn’t make himself speak. He watched helplessly as the creature snatched his friend away.

“Let’s see, who will save this poor little defenceless human?” It dangled Adelio around, holding onto them by nothing more than his arm. Adelio’s face was twisted up in pain. The monster held them out tauntingly to the crowd. “Anyone?” It asked with a grin. “Maybe I’ll have to make things more dire.” It slowly squeezed Adelio’s arm, and his piercing scream filled the theatre. Blood exploded from its fist, showering the people below.

Felix sprinted at the monster, abandoning all logical thought. Adelio’s scream wouldn’t stop ringing in his ears. He dodged debris, leaping towards the creature.

He had to save his friend.

The monster kicked him squarely in the chest, and he went flying. He crashed into a wall, pain spasming through his entire body. Felix gasped, the breath sucked out of his chest. His head pounded. It felt like he had broke something. His vision blurred.

“No takers, huh?” The monster said to Adelio, dangling them directly in front of its face. “Guess I’ll have to find a more valuable hostage.”

Felix shakily got to his feet, just in time to see Adelio get tossed through the air, discarded like he was nothing. He ran at the monster again, his side burning in white hot pain.

“RODRIGUEZ STAND BACK!” Someone screamed.

It was Mr. Prader. He grabbed onto him, pulling him back. Felix could only watch as the monster reached down again, plucking up another victim. “Oh you’ll definitely have people willing to save you.” It laughed.

Felix screamed.

The monsters hand was closed around none other than his best friend, a horrified look on her face.

It was Bliss.

“Well who’s gonna save her?” It laughed gleefully. Like it was a fucking joke. Felix fought desperately against Mr. Prader, staring up at Bliss, panicked. He couldn’t let her get hurt. Not her.

“NO!” He screamed. “PUT HER DOWN! DON’T HURT HER!” He tried to wriggle free from Mr. Prader’s grip, to escape and save his best friend, but Mr. Prader wouldn’t let go.

“DO YOU WANT TO DIE RODRIGUEZ? I SAID STAND BACK!”

Teachers kept aiming bullets at the monster, all for naught, as they were deflected with ease. “NO!” Felix kept screaming, begging, “DON’T DO THIS. DON’T HURT HER.” His voice cracked with emotion. Anyone but her. Anyone but Bliss.

“HOLD HIM BACK.” Mr Prader ordered some random people, and they all grabbed at Felix, keeping him still. Felix fought against them, but it was five adults versus him. They pinned his arms back.

He just needed to get to his friend. He needed to do something.

The creature looked around again. No one else was running to Bliss’ assistance, other than the teachers whose bullets accomplished nothing. “Man.” The monster sounded almost disappointed. “Nobody’s willing to save you either? Guess you’re just not that valuable.”

It’s fist started to squeeze, closing in around Bliss. Felix’s voice was raw, yelling and screaming and praying for the monster to notice him. Just look at me already.

“GUNTHER.” He pleaded, “Please, don’t hurt her!”

Gunther didn’t even look at him. His friend, someone he had trusted, joked with, laughed with, who now just stood there, holding one of the people Felix cared about most and laughing as he squeezed the life out of her.

Cracks formed in the ground, snaking between his feet. Below him he could hear rumbling. The floor burst, and out came a violent stream of…

Water?

Gunther’s hand was forced open as it got sliced by a giant blade of water. Bliss went flying. Felix focused in on her, opening a portal underneath her and safely transporting her a few feet away from the fight.

Gunther was laughing maniacally. “FINALLY.” He yelled, shaking his hand. “THANK YOU AVIL!” His eyes focused on the girl with a familiar blue-and-purple ponytail, now standing in front of him, water floating around her.

Felix finally pushed away from the people holding him, instantly sprinting towards Bliss’ side. He dodged water and fallen debris, landing next to her and checking her pulse.

She was alive. He sobbed, eternally grateful for Avil.

“GUNTHER WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Avil shouted, hurling more water blows at him. He laughed and flashed a row a razor-sharp teeth. “Killing these humans.”

Blood was dripping from Bliss’ head, her eyes glazed over. She was sprawled out in the rubble, unresponsive.

Felix didn’t know what to do. Gunther and Avil were still fighting, debris and water going everywhere. He needed to get her somewhere safe. He couldn’t leave her here. She’d be crushed. He had to find Reagan and Paisley… had to find Akali. He didn’t even know if Adelio had survived. He couldn’t focus, the sounds of Dioles fighting and gunshots firing too distracting. Bliss needed a hospital now. But there was no way he’d get out in time. He glanced back at Gunther, terrified and completely lost.

“BUT WHY?” Avil screamed again, hurling even more water at Gunther.

“BECAUSE I’M A DIOLE CAN’T YOU SEE? YOU SHOULD GET IT. ALL TWELVE OF YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND.”

Felix turned back to Bliss, carefully picking her up and slinging her across his shoulders. His heart was racing. He had to bring her somewhere safe. He had to get her out of here. He glanced around. The entire theatre was coming down.

There wasn’t anywhere to go.

“ALL OF THE BOARD GAME CLUB SHOULD UNDERSTAND. RIGHT GUYS?” He smacked the water away, laughing again. He sounded deranged.

Felix didn’t care about him anymore. He needed to get out of here. He needed to get Bliss help. There was no use hiding anymore, not after Gunther’s announcement.

Still holding onto Bliss, he opened up a portal and stepped through, praying this was the right decision.

Winola limped, pain shooting up her leg for every step she took.

Adelio hadn’t woken up.

He was slung over her shoulders, his mutilated arm slowly pouring blood, soaking her clothes. Winola didn’t know how much time he had left, didn’t know if he would even make it, if she found a way to a hospital.

Still, she searched for an exit, trying to stay undetected by the other Dioles. There seemed to be no escape to this place. Water bursted out of the cracks in the ground, the blood from her gunshot wound and the dead audience members making it slippery to walk. Smoke burned her eyes, but she kept pushing on. She wasn’t going to give up now. She had to get Adelio to a hospital.

The blood loss was making her dizzy. She had tied her sweater around her leg, but Adelio was weighing her down even further. Every muscle in her body screamed in protest.

“YOU!” Someone yelled.

She picked up her pace, trying to readjust Adelio in some way that was less painful for the both of them. He was completely out of it, his arm still gushing blood.

“COME BACK HERE!” The person screeched again, and Winola could hear them sprinting after her. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but Winola didn’t care about anything except getting Adelio to safety. She didn’t care if she died doing it. She would have preferred it, honestly.

A hand closed around her shoulder. She ignored it, praying they weren’t armed. She couldn’t deal with another bullet wound right now.

She could still hear Gunther raving as Avil fought him. “JANUARY, MADDOX, FELIX, WINOLA, NYSSA, ALZENA, WILDER, RORY, KUALI’I, AKALI, ASTLEY, AND YOU, AVIL. WHY DON’T YOU JOIN ME? YOU’RE ALL DIOLES AFTERALL.”

Winola pulled away, glancing around for another way out. Gunther laughed again. “Looks like I broke the club oath. Guess you’ll have to kill me.” She could hear the grin in his voice.

Someone stepped in front of Winola, stopping her in her tracks. It was Felix’s older sister, Reagan. Her brown eyes were wide, her face ghostly pale from Gunther’s announcement. She looked nauseous.

“WHERE IS FELIX?”

“I don’t know.” Winola mumbled, really tired of the Rodriguez siblings. She moved around Reagan, still determined to find some way out.

Gunther’s screams echoed through the theatre, deafening. “SO WHO WILL IT BE? AKALI, AVIL, JANUARY? MAYBE YOU SHOULD WORK TOGETHER SINCE THE REST OF YOU CAN’T DO MUCH.”

“YOU WERE WITH HIM, WHERE IS HE?” Reagan gripped her hand, oh so desperate. She looked at her with tears in her eyes, like she would die if she didn’t find him.

“I already told you I don’t know.” Winola said, getting annoyed. Adelio was bleeding out. He needed help more than Felix. “I need to leave.” She tried pulling away again.

“FELIX CAN GET US OUT OF HERE.” Reagan screamed. “I NEED TO FIND HIM, PLEASE.”

“Then stop talking to me and look for him.” Winola rolled her eyes.

Reagan opened her mouth to protest, before her eyes landed on someone behind them. “FELIX!”

Winola kept looking for a way out.

All the exits were being blocked, either by debris or Dioles she was in no condition to fight.

There was a large hole in the wall, except Gunther was blocking it.

But she had no other options.

Avoiding the falling debris, she quietly made her way to it, carrying Adelio.

“SHE’S A DIOLE!”

People started pointing Winola out, all staring at her with animosity. She tried to escape them, to just get to the exit, to help Adelio.

A blast went off, stunning Winola. She blinked, trying to ignore it, to just keep going, but she found that she couldn’t move. Something warm seeped through her other pant leg, stinging.

Someone had shot her again.

Her legs buckled, and she was knocked to the ground. She couldn’t move her legs. Adelio was laying just in front of her, unconscious. People ran away from her in fear, leaving her laying there on the ground.

She propped herself up on her elbows, gritting her teeth at the fiery burning in her legs. Her head spun. Her vision faded in and out.

Her arms shook, giving out underneath her. She was so weak. She could feel herself slipping away, barely able to even stay awake now.

Then something started to lift her up. She closed her eyes, and everything went fuzzy.

Felix found himself in Bliss’ house.

He’d been in this exact foyer probably a hundred times over the years, all the way back to when he was only five. He’d spent countless days here, hanging out with Bliss, talking to her about anything and everything, gossiping, complaining to each other, laughing and joking around.

But tonight the house was cold, dark. Unbearably quiet. He wished there was somewhere else to go, somewhere else he could portal that wouldn’t immediately get him killed.

“HELLO? SOMEONE? HELP!” He screamed, met with nothing but complete silence. Her parents weren’t here, they would have been in the audience, watching Bliss play on the cello with the band. There was nobody home. He could feel blood seeping through his clothes. Bliss was even worse off. He couldn’t think straight, panic taking over.

He leaned down, laying her on the ground, trying to be as gentle as possible. He reached into his pants pocket, where he thankfully had left his phone in. With shaking hands he called 911.

“PLEASE, HELP. A DIOLE ATTACKED MY FRIEND. SHE’S GOING TO DIE.” He screamed into the phone. He rushedly gave her address, his voice trembling with pure desperation. “SEND AN AMBULANCE. PLEASE. HELP HER.”

He was met by a steady but firm tone on the other end of the line. “Sir, we’re going to need you to calm down. Please tell us what happened.”

He looked down at Bliss again. Her head was bleeding worse now. She was scarily pale. He needed to stay here with her, make sure that she got the help she needed. He needed to protect her.

But his sister was still at the theatre. She was defenceless. She wasn’t a Diole. And she was stuck there with Gunther. He needed to find her. He couldn’t leave his family. If Reagan got hurt, got hurt because of the Board Game Club, because of Felix, he would never forgive himself. He had to go back, had to go find her. He couldn’t just abandon her, abandon Paisley, abandon the Board Game Club.

He remembered a few months ago, laying on his bed, Bliss’ head resting on his chest. It was the night after his 16th birthday party, the first time she’d ever slept over with him. It was just the two of them. They’d stayed up all night, talking and eating birthday cake.

Laying with her, talking about nothing really important, the two of them trying to suppress their laughter, he’d felt completely content. It was perfect. His life was finally settling down. His powers were under control, he had the Board Game Club, and he was even passing most of his classes. She’d smiled at him, so full of warmth and happiness. He could never stay in a bad mood around Bliss. She was just so full of complete love for the people around her. And when she smiled at him, he’d felt so normal. It was the best feeling in the world.

But he was a Diole and she was not.

And he couldn’t stay here and wait with her, as much as it killed him. Reagan could be hurt, could be dying. He needed to get back and help the rest of the club. He stared at his phone. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes.

“I have to go.” He said hoarsely, wanting nothing more than to just stay with her, to ride to the hospital with her, make sure she was safe. “Please, please send an ambulance.”

He took in her face one last time. He prayed that he would get to see her again. Hug her again. He opened up another portal, back into the theatre, and Bliss’ house disappeared.

He landed back in the rubble.

The theatre was still in chaos. He glanced around, looking for Reagan, holding back tears. He didn’t even have time to grieve, not when he was surrounded by blood and fighting and gunfire.

“FELIX!”

He whipped around. Reagan was sprinting at him, her eyes wild. She didn’t seem to be hurt. Her hair was out of its original braid, flying around her face, and she was covered in dust, but other that that, in one piece. He ran towards her, unbelievably relieved that she was okay, that Gunther hadn’t crushed her. She grabbed him tight. “WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE.”

“Where’s Paisley?!”

“THAT’S NOT IMPORTANT. WE NEED TO LEAVE.” She screamed again, looking at him in despair.

Avil and Gunther were still fighting, water splashing everywhere. “No, not yet!” Paisley was nowhere to be seen. “We have to find her! And I can’t leave them!” He gestured to Avil and Gunther. “I have to go help!”

She gripped his shoulders, fingernails digging into his skin. “SHE ALREADY LEFT.” Her voice cracked, she looked like she was two seconds from bawling her eyes out. “SHE SAID THAT SHE’LL MEET US. WE NEED TO GO.” She was pleading with him, begging.

“THERE, THE DIOLE.” Someone Felix didn’t know screamed, pointing at him angrily.

He hesitated, wondering for a second if he should just leave with her, let January figure this out on his own. But he couldn’t. They’d signed an oath. He wasn’t like Gunther, he wouldn’t break it like that. He had to help them. Gunther would kill them all if he left. He couldn’t lose both of his best friends.

“GET SOMEWHERE SAFE! I’LL BE BACK I PROMISE.” He stepped back from Reagan, opening up a portal.

“FELIX-“ Reagan screamed, reaching for him. He’d never heard her sound so desperate before.

But it was too late.

He landed on top of Gunther, trying to keep his balance as Gunther swung out and ripped more of the wall apart.

“Huh? A fly?” Gunther laughed, ignoring Felix. Felix kicked him in the eye as hard as he could, enough to at least stun him a bit.

“FUCK YOU!” He screamed.

Gunther just blinked, barely even phased. He laughed again. “You’ve been training for how long and that’s all you can do?” He reached up, giant hand closing around Felix before he could think to dodge.

Felix clawed at him, trying to squirm out of his grasp. He screamed in frustration. “I HATE YOU!” He tried to kick at his eye again, but Gunther just pulled him away. He dangled him by his arm, just like he had with Adelio. Felix was probably fifty feet up in the air. Enough to kill him if he fell. Gunther’s lips curled into a smirk.

“You always did amuse me, you know.”

Felix had never hated someone more.

“WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS? WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU? YOU RUINED EVERYTHING.”

Gunther used his free hand to swipe away the bullets and water that were still being shot at him, but he seemed slower. The water pressure had evidently started to affect him. “Oh, I’m doing you all a FAVOUR.”

“MY LIFE WAS FINALLY GOING TO BE NORMAL!” Felix screamed back, so overcome by rage that he didn’t even care if Gunther dropped him. “I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND. HOW COULD YOU?”

“Normal?” Gunther laughed harder. “Your life never WAS and never WILL BE normal.” He threw Felix. “You have to accept that in this society you’ll be nothing but a MONSTER.”

Felix flew through the air, opening up another portal and landing in a heap on Gunther’s shoulder. He got to his feet again, staring at him in disbelief.

“LOOK AT YOURSELF.” He yelled. “LOOK AT WHAT YOU’RE DOING. I WOULD NEVER DO THAT. I WOULD NEVER HURT SOMEONE LIKE THAT.” He motioned to the mess of blood and bodies below, the Dioles that kept attacking. “IF YOU HAD JUST PLAYED ALONG THEN WE COULD’VE HAD A NORMAL LIFE!”

“THERE’S NOTHING NORMAL ABOUT US. HAS JANUARY RESTALL TAINTED YOUR MIND WITH SO MUCH FALSE HOPE?” He laughed. “I’M NOT LIKE YOU GUYS, I DON’T RUN AWAY FROM MYSELF. I DON’T CARE HOW MANY PEOPLE I HAVE TO HURT FOR MY OWN FREEDOM!”

Gunther grabbed onto more debris and hurled it.

“YOU’RE FUCKING CRAZY!” Felix couldn’t believe this was the same guy who had sat and laughed with him on Monday, sitting in the club room, playing board games with the rest of them. Had he known all along? Had he sat there while knowing he was going to do this?

“WHAT ABOUT YOUR GIRLFRIENDS? YOUR FAMILY? YOU HAD FRIENDS. DON’T YOU CARE?”

“I’m doing this for THEM.” He hissed, flicking Felix away. He stomped, cracking the ground and causing several chunks of the roof to collapse.

Felix opened another portal, landing on the ground lightly. “YOU THINK THEY’RE GONNA LIKE YOU NOW, AFTER YOU MURDERED A BUNCH OF HUMANS?”

Gunther narrowed his eyes, laughing. “This truly shows how we were never really friends.”

Felix thought about all the times he had hung out with Gunther. How Gunther had saved him when he had broken his leg in a fight, how Gunther had been one of his closest friends in the Board Game Club. Months of jokes and conversations. Gunther was one of the only people he could be fully himself, not having to worry about being a Diole. Gunther was cool, strong, and good at fighting. He was charming. Felix respected him; looked up to him, even. He was everything he wanted to be.

He didn’t want to admit how much that all really hurt, how much Gunther’s words stung. He had trusted him. And it was all nothing?

“HOW COULD THEY POSSIBLY WANT ALL THIS?”

“OH YOU REALLY DON’T KNOW ANYTHING.” Gunther spit back, seething.

“THEN TELL ME!” Felix screamed, waving his arms around. “TELL ME HOW ANY OF THIS IS SUPPOSED TO MAKE SENSE?”

“Maybe you’ll find out, if you make it to Paradise.” He started to morph again, growing larger in size, the ground collapsing even further. Cracks formed under Felix’s feet, and he was forced back farther.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?”

But Gunther was finally finished. He didn’t even look at him, instead using his sharp claws to continue to break the building.

Felix gave up trying to reason with him, portaling back up to his head and trying to poke his eyes out, distract him, do any sort of damage against him.

Gunther was seemingly getting stronger and stronger, effortlessly deflecting Avil and Felix’s attacks while dodging bullets. Felix had never made so many portals consecutively. His whole body shook with effort. His face was dripping with sweat. He stumbled, and Gunther tossed him through the air again. He managed to create another portal, this time rolling roughly on the ground. He felt sick. He couldn’t keep going like this for much longer, and he was sure that Avil couldn’t either. Gunther was still standing tall, wrecking the school. He didn’t even look bothered.

Gunther was always stronger than all of them, better than all of them. He knew it. Everyone knew it. Felix’s portals were nothing compared to him. He was no match. He wasn’t even sure if the entire club working together could overpower Gunther. It didn’t matter anyway, because the rest of the club was nowhere to be found. Maybe January really had abandoned them all.

There was a sharp bang. Felix’s shoulder exploded with pain. He coughed, blood soaking his jacket.

For a split second he could almost understand Gunther. Their bullets were doing nothing against Gunther’s monstrous form. The only person causing any real damage was Avil. The two of them were on their own against him. And yet the teachers were still shooting at them. Only a few minutes ago Mr. Prader had held him back, tried to protect him. Felix hadn’t hurt anyone, he was actively trying to distract Gunther long enough for Avil to finally land a hit on him. Yet it didn’t matter, all they heard was “Diole” and suddenly he was the enemy, a criminal; not a student.

Felix had been hiding - running - since he was six years old. He couldn’t remember what his life had been like, for the short time that he was normal. Before his parents died. Before Reagan found out he was a Diole. Before she took him away from their grandmother, before it was just them. He was only six. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He wasn’t evil, or wicked, or some sort of murderer. He was just a scared kid who had just lost his parents. But suddenly the world had decided that he was too dangerous.

“You’ll be nothing but a MONSTER.” Gunther’s words repeated in his head. There were people running away from him, staring at him like he was the one that had wrecked the school, that had crushed those people. They were scared of him. He could hear them screaming, shouting “DIOLE!” at him. Like there was no difference between him and Gunther, not in their eyes. He wondered bitterly if Gunther was right. If he really was running away from himself, if he was a coward.

But Bliss was somewhere bleeding out, possibly dead, because of Gunther. She was innocent, the one person Felix knew who didn’t seem to hate Dioles. She always spoke lightly about them, commenting on how neither humans nor Dioles could be inherently good or evil. “If a Diole can kill someone, then so can a human, and vice versa.”

Gunther wasn’t right. He was no different than them, attacking the school, laughing as he crushed Adelio’s arm and discarding them as if they were nothing more than a toy.

Felix crouched behind the rubble, trying to catch his breath. He wouldn’t let Gunther hurt anyone else. He had to find a way to be actually useful, because kicking Gunther in the eye wasn’t doing anything but annoying him and tiring Felix out. His shoulder stung. He was pretty sure that he was going to pass out from exhaustion. Every single muscle in his body hurt.

Keeping low, he searched the rubble for something sharp. His hands closed around a piece of jagged metal. Standing up shakily, he managed to open another portal, and slipped into it.

He landed on Gunther’s head once again, but this time he wasted not a second before attacking. Gunther didn’t seem to notice him, and he was becoming much more sluggish against both Felix, Avil, and the constant gunfire. Felix prayed this meant that they were actually chipping away at him, even if it was just slowly. Felix raised his arms above his head, arcing the weapon down with all his strength and impaling Gunther’s eye.

Gunther hissed, grabbing Felix and flinging him in the air. Felix flew up at least twenty feet, away from the school this time. Disoriented, he created another portal, slashing out at Gunther’s other eye.

Gunther merely closed his eye, the debris deflecting off of his hide. Felix twisted in the air, caught off balance, and Gunther took advantage of it, swatting him away. Felix opened up another portal, almost missing it, and fell back down to the ground, this time rolling roughly through the rubble.

The debris had started to float into the air, raising around Felix and Avil as they continued to fight. Gunther didn’t seem to pay it any mind, destroying more of the school.

January.

Felix hoped he was somewhere around here, hoped January had some sort of plan. Because Felix sure didn’t have one. He prayed the rest of the Board Game Club was safe. That someone would come to help them. He really wished Akali was here right now. He was the strongest in the club, next to January and Avil. He would’ve been able to take down Gunther much more easily than Felix was.

Gunther grabbed him again, but this time he was caught off guard, catching his breath down in the rubble. His claws closed around Felix, pinning his arms down. This time Gunther didn’t throw him, instead raising him higher into the air. His yellow eyes flickered dangerously. Felix’s heart sunk. It was the same amused look he had while holding Bliss.

Slowly, Gunther started to squeeze.

Felix screamed. His entire body lit up with pain. He had never felt like this before, every single muscle and bone in his body in agony. He couldn’t see, couldn’t think. All he could hear was himself screaming, his throat raw. Blood gushed from his bullet wound, dripping down Gunther’s fist. He screamed louder.

He couldn’t breathe.

He could feel his ribs folding in on each other, and his lungs felt like they were being crushed. The edges of his vision were blurring red. He could feel all the blood rushing to his head. he felt like he was going to explode. He wished he had said goodbye to Reagan. Wished he had said “I love you” one last time.

He was going to die, killed by one of his only friends.

Tears streamed down his face, he gagged. Stop, he wanted to beg. Please stop. He couldn’t make himself do anything except yell out in pain. Things were falling out of the sky, but his vision was so blurred that he couldn’t tell what it was. He didn’t even really care anymore, too focused on the way poison seemed to be sloshing around in his rib cage.

Someone grabbed the collar of his shirt, and the pressure ceased. The last thing he saw was a mountain of rubble come crashing down on Gunther with alarming speed, before he melted into shadow.

“You’re such an idiot.”

Someone grumbled, their monotone voice familiar. He was laid down on the ground gently. Bright LED lights blinded him. He must have been far away from the theatre now.

He blinked, and Akali in all his sweaty, blood-covered glory came into focus.

Felix shook, unable to say anything. His entire body still hurt, and his head felt foggy. Akali stood up, giving Felix a once-over quickly to make sure he was okay. “I’ll be back.” He vanished into a cloud of black smoke again.

The entire school was eerily quiet now. Felix couldn’t hear Gunther any longer. He laid there, shaking all over, his adrenaline rush finally fading.

“FELIX!”

Someone grabbed him, helping him to his feet. “WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE.”

It was Reagan, looking even more terrified than before. He managed to stand, feeling dizzy. He leaned against her, holding onto her side for support. “My friends,” he croaked. “I need to find them.”

Reagan just scooped him up, the action both done with utmost care but also urgency. “NO.” She was still screaming. “WE NEED TO LEAVE.”

Felix pushed against her weakly, but she wouldn’t let him go this time. “NO.” He yelled back, determined to not leave his friends. Not when they needed him the most. “They’ll die!”

Reagan looked at his shoulder wound, which was bleeding even worse after Gunther had almost crushed him. “You’ll die!” She stared at him incredulously, her voice taking on a desperate edge.

“Please. They need help!”

Reagan’s face hardened. Her jaw was set stubbornly, and she shifted so that she held him more tightly against her chest. “Reagan, I made a promise! I can’t just abandon them!” Felix pleaded with her. He couldn’t lose Akali and Bliss in one night. Paisley was gone. He wasn’t even sure if she made it out alive. Reagan started running down the hall, ignoring Felix’s protests. “YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE THEY ARE.” She shot back angrily, turning down a hallway.

Someone sprinted past them, and Felix noticed a flash of bright red hair. It was Wilder, running in the opposite direction.

Felix tried to jump from her arms and follow him, but he was too weak from the fight, and Reagan too stubborn. He screamed Wilder’s name, hoping Wilder would hear him, notice him, tell him where Avil was, where the rest of the Board Game Club was.

Wilder blatantly ignored him, disappearing into the dust.

Of course. Felix had never been more frustrated, being held back by his sister while Wilder ran away from him, not able to get over his petty grudge when they all were probably going to die. He punched at Reagan, each action causing his shoulder to burn even worse.

Reagan picked up her pace, not even paying attention to his weak attempts at fighting her. He’d never felt so utterly pathetic.

He started screaming, begging her to please, just help him find his friends. Please, let go. He couldn’t get Bliss out of his head, the way she looked laying in her empty house, blood pooling around her, as Felix left her, alone. He couldn’t stop the images of Akali, Avil, January… all with their eyes rolled back in their head, blood soaking through their clothes. He knew they wouldn’t survive if he left with Reagan. He would never see them ever again. He knew he’d never be able to forgive himself if they died.

Reagan didn’t even acknowledge his screams, looking around wildly for some sort of exit.

A door beside them swung open. Standing there was Maddox, looking more disheveled than usual, face wide with shock. His eyes were glowing blue, searching behind the two of them hopefully, like maybe January might be there.

“MADDOX!” Felix screamed, never more relieved to see him in his entire life.

Maddox grabbed onto Reagan, pulling the both of them inside and shutting the door once again.

Reagan stumbled, almost dropping Felix. The Board Game Club was gathered around the room, all behind Maddox. “WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING HERE?”

Felix used the distraction to break free, landing on his feet clumsily and managing to lean against a desk. Maddox looked at Reagan, his eyes were wide. “Is it just you two?” He asked, a hint of desperation in his voice.

Reagan glanced around, suddenly panicked again. “WHO ELSE IS SUPPOSED TO BE HERE?”

Felix took in his surroundings, and his heart ached. This was the room where he had broken Gunther’s rotting old guitar. He could recognize the closet in the back, where Gunther kept all his school supplies. He’d hung out here a few times, on the days when he was too bored to make himself go to class. Gunther had always greeted him with a crooked smile.

He hated how much he wished Gunther were here right now, hated how much he missed his friend.

Maddox continued to stare at Reagan, his blue eyes making him look unnerving. He tapped his foot, becoming even more impatient, but didn’t respond.

“Akali was with me,” Felix said, his voice ragged. “I don’t know where he went.”

Maddox nodded, looking like he would have done anything to hear January was okay. He stared down at his watch nervously.

The room went completely silent as a huge explosion rang off in the distance. Felix was horrified. Had Gunther survived being buried by debris? Was it not over yet?

A heat wave hit the room, and everything clicked into place.

Wilder.

Felix had no clue what he was doing, but he hoped he was helping Avil. He hoped January and Akali made it to the room soon.

“One minute left and we’re leaving.” Maddox declared, looking up from his watch again.

“What about January?”

Felix couldn’t have been more shocked. Maddox and January were a pair, and you would rarely find one without the other. The two were constantly together, laughing, joking, walking to class with each other. They were best friends. Maddox knew January better than anyone else, even knew how to calm him down when he got into those freaky states where he seemed like he wanted to kill you. Maddox and January were two halves of a whole. Even Felix knew that. Maddox couldn’t seriously be thinking about leaving without him.

Maddox kept glancing at the door. “He’ll…” He faltered for a second. “He’ll be fine.” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

The sound of rushed footsteps echoed outside in the hall. Maddox was immediately at the door, having practically thrown himself across the room. He swung it open.

Akali, January, and Astley carrying Wilder.

There was no Avil.

“January!” Maddox ran up to his friend. “Are you hurt?”

January shook his head, in a daze. He had a faraway look in his eyes.

“Is Avil…?” Felix trailed off, already knowing the answer. His voice sounded incredibly small. This didn’t feel real. No one would look at him. They all stayed silent. He swallowed, his throat suddenly very dry. She’d been his first friend in the club, the first one who actually seemed to like him. She was kind, compassionate, and probably the only person who had genuinely been impressed by him.

She was only fifteen.

More footsteps sounded from down the hall, stomping loudly towards them. Maddox looked around at the group, his face was set. “We need to get out of here.”

“Where?” Felix asked, feeling lost. Maddox glanced back at the door again, his answer immediate, said without hesitation.

“Chumps Jr.”

Any other instance Felix would have groaned, protested, rolled his eyes. But right now he didn’t even care. He was grateful Maddox was taking charge, because he felt like he was about to fall apart. He’d lost too much tonight. He moved robotically, opening up another portal, the simple action taking everything he had left.

It weakly flickered to life, not big enough to even crawl through. Felix could feel everyone’s eyes on him. He was their one ticket out of here, yet he could barely even stand, barely even create a portal. The footsteps were growing louder and louder by the second.

The portal slowly opened wider, Felix feeling like he would pass out any second now. The footsteps were even closer now. Felix’s whole body shook with the effort of it all.

Finally, the portal opened. But so did the door.

Rory was the first one through. They hopped through without a second thought, dragging Kuali’i in behind them.

At the door was Ms. Cora. Her dark brown eyes were wide. At her side was a familiar large gun, the one that she kept in her classroom at all times. But it wasn’t pointed at them, instead resting on her hip, her hands already occupied, holding a scared-looking kid. He was curled up in her arms, and he couldn’t have been older than seven. With a start, Felix realized it was one of Winola’s siblings. He couldn’t remember his name. The kid had bit him at the beach once, that he was sure.

Ms. Cora looked at the club, and then the portal. Her hand twitched, instinctively reaching for her gun.

Felix grabbed Reagan, shoving her into the portal. She screamed, but by then she was already gone. Astley picked up Winola, who was bleeding from both of her legs, too weak to move, and stepped through as well, Wilder still slung across his back.

Ms. Cora disconnected the gun from its holster, kicking it to the side. “Look, look, I’m not here to hurt you.” She looked toward the figure laying on the ground, which Felix realized for the first time was Adelio. It was hard to tell if they were still alive or not. “I just need you to leave so I can take him.”

One by one, the remains of the Board Game Club stepped through. Felix took one last glance at Ms. Cora, who was patiently waiting so that she could pick up Adelio and get him help.

He stepped through the portal, and the school faded away around him.

[dioles-writes]

• OC FICLET •

Masterlist | Characters: Winola (she/her), Maddox (he/him), January (he/him), Mr Prader (he/him), Felix (he/him)

The characters in purple all belong to @jiphenn and Winola belongs to @sleepsloooop!!

PHYSICAL EDUCATION 10

Wildhorse Prader

Period: 1

Room: Main Gym

Winola squinted at her schedule, becoming more lost by the minute. Diantha Rose seemed to be more of a maze than a high school, the hallways long and winding, bustling with students and teachers all excited for the new school year.

Winola, on the other hand, would’ve rathered be anywhere but here.

She wandered through the halls, trying to not get swallowed up by the sea of people pushing past her, and searching desperately for the gym or some sort of office. Just anywhere that would give her proper directions.

Suddenly, someone bumped into her, almost sending her stumbling to the ground.

“Oh, sorry.” Winola instantly apologized, quickly taking a step back, her face burning hot. This morning really couldn’t be going any worse.

“Oh no, sorry, that was my bad.” A tall guy stood there, staring down at her with an apologetic look. “I’m kind of lost.”

“I am as well.” She admitted. “What class are you looking for?”

“Gym. You?”

“Oh, I’m going to Gym too.”

“Perfect. Let’s go together.” He began to lead the way down the hall, hands stuck in his pockets. Winola followed him, praying he had a better sense of direction than she did. (Though she wasn’t very hopeful.)

“So, you are?” He looked back towards her, tilting his head.

“My name is Winola. What’s yours?”

“Maddox.” He turned back forwards, taking in all their surroundings, his onyx eyes glinting. “You new here?”

“Yes, I just moved from Germany. Are you as well?”

“Yeah.” Maddox nodded, his ponytail swaying as he walked. “I was homeschooled so this is my first time at an actual school.” He turned another corner, still curiously taking in all the sights.

“Do you find it overwhelming?”

“Well it sure is different, but it’s not that bad. It’s nice having a lot of people around.”

He stopped in front of two large steel doors. “I think this is it.” Slowly, he pushed them open.

They were immediately interrupted by a deep, gruff voice. “This is Mr. Prader’s class, who are you two?”

A man stood in front of them, arms crossed over his beefy chest. He was tall and muscular, with spiky brown hair, intense blue eyes, and a jagged scar running from his jaw to his lip.

“Winola Higgins.”

“Maddox Exermas.”

“Good.” He clicked his pen and scratched off two names on his clipboard. “Now sit down.” He commanded, pointing them towards where a couple of kids were stretched out in the middle of the gym floor.

Maddox sauntered on over, plopping himself down next to the flashiest-looking of the bunch - A muscular guy with a choppy black bowl cut, vitiligo, and mismatched outfit: a skin-tight neon green turtleneck paired with lavender skinny jeans that sparkled in the light and magenta-pink high tops. Maddox turned back to Winola with a smile, motioning for her to sit next to him.

Winola eyed the two for a second, hesitant (especially with who he was sitting next to), before relenting and making her way to Maddox’s side.

The boy nodded his head in greeting to the both of them, his face bedazzled with silver piercings. He was definitely interesting, to say the least.

Maddox turned to him with a slight smile. “I like your hair.” He said, voice conveying nothing but complete seriousness.

The boy instantly perked up. He smirked and fluffed up his bowl cut, very obviously pleased with the compliment. “Thank you, I cut it myself.” He said smugly, like it was the best haircut in the entire world.

“I’m Maddox by the way, you are?”

He grinned. “Felix.”

Mr. Prader marched to the front of the class, hands clasped behind his back. “Good morning class. I’m Mr. Prader and I’ll be your Phys Ed teacher for the rest of the semester.”

“Today we’ll be going straight into our first unit: Diole Prevention and Safety.” He glared at them, making eye contact with each and every student. Winola felt like shrinking under his piercing gaze. “As you all know, Dioles are dangerous individuals that possess inhuman abilities. Fifteen years ago, governments in every country finally decided to wipe out the Dioles, since they’re violent and savage.”

“Our first unit will go over self-defence if you ever encounter a Diole, and how to report one.” He said. “Now, how many of you have ever been in the presence of a Diole?” His eyes scanned across the room, finally landing on the one hand that had popped up.

Maddox sat there, a bored expression on his face, his hand straight up in the air. “I have.”

“Oh, when? What did you do? Was it scary?” Mr. Prader fired questions at him, practically interrogating him (yet again).

“I see them pretty often. My best friend’s dad is kinda Howard Restall, y’know, the guy that makes the serum that kills Dioles. They’re kinda annoying, but I guess I tolerate it.” Maddox said, a small smile sneaking its way across his face.

The class was instantly full of whispers.

“No way he’s actually friends with Howard Restall’s son.”

“Nobody even knows his name.”

“Yeah, apparently his son has never left the house before.”

“HELLLLLOOOOOOOOO?!”

Suddenly frantic banging on the gym doors caught everyone’s attention.

Mr. Prader opened the door, causing the mystery stranger to fall face-first into his big glorious pecs.

The stranger pushed himself out of Mr. Prader’s moobs, stumbling back a little before standing straight and introducing himself. “Good morning sir, sorry I’m late. I was having transportation issues.”

“I’m January.” He smiled. “January Restall.”

[dioles-writes]

• OC FIC •

Masterlist | Characters: Felix (he/him), January (he/him), Mr Prader (he/him), Maddox (he/him), Adelio (they/he), Winola (she/her)

Characters in purple all belong to @jiphenn and Winola belongs to @sleepsloooop

“So, you think you could take a gun?”

January stared down at Felix, cocking an eyebrow. They were pushing through the crowded halls, side by side, making their way to gym - Felix’s favourite class. Chemistry was finally over, much to Felix’s relief. He wasn’t sure he could take much more of those sweaty drooling nerds making heart-eyes at Ms. Veerity. He really wished he had just taken Biology.

“Take a gun?” He smirked at January. “Maybe. It depends. But I do have a few tricks up my sleeve, so…”

“I mean you could just teleport away couldn’t you? Or is a bullet too fast?” January lowered his voice slightly, speaking quietly.

Felix froze, his heart skipping a beat. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Can you be quiet?” He hissed, grabbing onto January’s arm and digging his nails into his bicep. He glanced around at the people around them, eyes darting around to see if anyone had heard what he said. Just when he was starting to almost like January, he pulled shit like this. The guy had zero self preservation. “There’s cameras in the halls! You’re fucking insane, and you’re going to get us all caught acting like that! You can’t just go around announcing stuff like…. Like, you know. Use a code word at least! You- you!” Felix spluttered, tripping over his own words.

January stared at him blankly. “But I’m whispering.” He stated, like Felix was an idiot. Felix was pretty sure he wasn’t going to get through the week without strangling January. He’d never met someone so stupid. Then again, January was the one who decided to make a Board Game Club full of Dioles. So maybe it was to be expected.

“That doesn’t matter. There’s people around, cameras around. Someone will hear you! Are you really this careless?” Felix wasn’t even whispering anymore, more like mouthing the words at January in pure rage. “I never should have trusted you.” He spit, glaring at him in complete disgust.

January stared at him for a moment, checking to see if he was finished. “These cameras don’t pick up sound, only record. So the only thing they’ll be seeing is you freaking out.” He said calmly, sounding completely unbothered. He glanced around, motioning towards the students all around them. Everyone was either making out, fighting, talking loudly in their own groups, or heading down the hall with their earbuds blasting music so loud even Felix and January could hear it. “I don’t think anyone’s paying attention to us.”

Felix gave him the meanest look he could muster, letting go of his arm. “I hate you.” He growled in a strained voice. “And to answer your question: I don’t know. Because I’ve never been shot at.”

“Do you want to? We can test it out.” January smiled at him, like Felix hadn’t just told him that he hated him. “With a fake gun.”

Felix’s face morphed into a variety of different emotions, all within a couple of seconds. Shock, fear, astonishment, excitement, before finally settling on suspicion. He tried to push away the giddy feeling he got at the thought of actually getting to try out his powers for once, reminding himself that this was Howard Restall’s son, that he couldn’t trust him. “And where would we even do that?”

“My house!” January said, like that was the most logical easiest answer.

Felix bugged his eyes out, jaw falling to the floor. “Your house? The house that belongs to The Howard Restall? The guy who-“ Felix trailed off, gesturing with his hands frantically. He stared at January like he had lost his mind, which he was pretty sure he already had.

“No, he lives in a different house.” January said without hesitation, weirdly casual about admitting that his dad didn’t even live with him.

“But he probably has cameras. Everywhere.”

January started to walk again, still keeping his voice low for Felix’s sake. “If he did have cameras, I would be dead right now.”

Felix followed him, giving him a hard stare. “What about your servants, or whatever?” He guessed that someone as rich as January wouldn’t have to do anything for himself. He probably had a million maids and cooks and butlers that all worked under his dad, doing all the chores and cooking and cleaning. They probably even picked out clothes for him every morning. “How do you know he didn’t update them recently? Huh?”

“They only see me once a week.” January said, which came as a surprise to Felix. The gym appeared in front of them. Felix gave him a weird look. He didn’t understand January Restall at all. No wonder he was so odd, homeschooled all his life, living in an empty mansion all by himself. The more he learnt about January, the more his life just seemed kind of… sad. It made it harder to hate the guy, which just annoyed Felix further.

“Morning Restall, Morning Rodriguez.” Mr. Prader was at the door, greeting the two of them as they walked in, standing in large baggy pants and a tight tank top that just enunciated his large pecs. Felix eyed his pant pockets, wondering if he really was hiding a gun in there, like Bliss had said, and gave him a small wave, mostly out of fear, before following January and taking a seat.

January had propped himself right next to Winola, who looked absolutely mortified to be near him. She was staring down at the ground, absolutely refusing to acknowledge either January or Felix.

The bell rang again, signalling the start of class. Mr. Prader marched up to the front, arms behind his back. “Good morning class,” He said. “In order to build teamwork and character, we’ll be playing dodgeball to the death today.”

Felix grinned, excited to finally be back in a class he would excel at. He didn’t even care anymore that January Restall was here, or that Mr. Prader was possibly armed. He was going to win this.

Mr. Prader pulled out a tiny flip phone, and started calling off names using an online website. “Team one is Rodriguez, Exermas, and Restall. Team captain will be Rodriguez.” He called out some other people that Felix didn’t know or care about for team one. Felix was brimming with excitement, glad to be back in his element. He turned to grin at January, not even upset that they were both on the same team. It could even be a good thing - January was tall and athletic, and he looked just as excited as Felix to be in gym, if not more.

Mr. Prader pointed Felix’s team to the right. Team two, which was led by Winola, heading to the left. “If you get hit you’re out and off to the side, if you catch the ball then the thrower is out and you get to bring a teammate back in. Understood?” Mr. Prader explained the rules, grabbing a large duffel bag. “While I put the balls out huddle together and get to know your team.”

There were a couple of girls goggling January, giving him looks and then turning to giggle with each other. “You should be team captain, January.” They swooned.

Felix ignored them, turning to introduce himself. “Hi, I’m Felix.”

The whole group turned to him like he had interrupted something extremely important. He got a few glares, before they all went back to drooling over January’s presence, much to Felix’s annoyance. “Who votes for January as captain?” Someone said, and the whole group started murmuring in agreement, nodding and putting their hands up. Felix huffed, glaring at January. Of course he had to steal all the attention. It wasn’t enough that he was rich and popular and liked by everyone, he also had to one-up Felix, once again.

“Well I nominate keeping Felix as leader.” January said with a grin. “Everyone who disagrees with me can go switch teams.”

Felix’s mood was instantly restored. He beamed, as everyone turned to look at him once again. He started to set out their amazing plan, determined to destroy Winola’s team at dodgeball. The whole group immediately burst into applause, in awe of his rousing speech. Felix guessed this was mainly only because January seemed to like him, but it was fine by him either way.

January wiped a dramatic tear from his eye, following Felix into position. Maddox gave him a thumbs up, and January saluted, the both of them taking this game with one hundred percent seriousness.

“THE GAME IS STARTING IN FIVE.” Mr. Prader boomed, finally finished with setting up the balls. Winola’s whole team looked completely unorganized, with Winola hanging back like she was trying to hide herself from everyone else. From the front Mr. Prader counted down, before finally screaming go, announcing the start of the game.

Felix’s team (minus Felix, January and Maddox) all forgot the plan, yelling and running back in fear. Winola’s team charged the dodgeballs, grabbing as many as they could and running back. They all shoved Winola to the front, like she was some sort of human shield.

Felix’s team was getting hammered by balls. Felix tried his best to keep up with his plan, but all his group members were either hiding towards the back or getting slammed by more dodgeballs.

He gave up trying to follow their teams plan, and just started firing as many balls as he could at Winola’s team. Maddox purposely stepped in the path of a ball and sauntered off to stand at the side. Felix resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Maddox was probably the most unathletic person he had ever met. He hadn’t even been able to get through jogging laps yesterday. Even Winola, who looked like she would rather be anywhere else than in this gym class, could do that.

Eventually, it was just Felix and January on the one side, with Winola and some boy Felix hadn’t seen yesterday on the other.

Felix hit Winola squarely in the chest, sending her to the side. She looked instantly relieved.

January winded up, whipping the ball as hard as he possibly could, and it went soaring towards the boy. Felix watched as the boy went flying across the gym, crashing into the wall, and landing on the ground in a heap. Except, gripped tightly in his hands, was January’s ball.

Felix was completely flabbergasted.

He pushed down his shock, whipping another ball towards his legs. The boy wobbled over from being winded, somehow accidentally dodging Felix’s ball. Felix shot another dodgeball at him just as fast, not allowing him any time to recover. The boy rolled to the side, trying to get up, accidentally dodging the second one. Felix huffed a breath of frustration, throwing a third ball at the guy, only this time seventeen times harder.

The boy stood up and stumbled, the ball hitting the wall with a large smack and ricocheting off of it, almost hitting Winola in the face. Felix glanced around at his completely empty side of the gym, all the balls on Winola’s side. January was grinning ear-to-ear at him from next to Maddox, finding this obviously hilarious.

Felix stood alone, cornered. The boy looked towards the ball in his hands, and then back to Winola. He nodded towards her with a smile, “You’re back in captain.” Winola looked like she wanted to die. She shook her head quickly, desperately motioning to one of their other teammates. The entire group shoved her away from the wall and back into the arena.

Felix could do nothing but stand and wait as the boy handed Winola two balls, whispering a plan into her ear and glancing back at him. In an instant, both of them turned and threw their balls straight at him.

Felix dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, rolling and dodging. Miraculously, he managed to dodge all four at once. He leapt towards one of their discarded dodgeballs, throwing it with all his might towards Winola.

Winola didn’t even try to pretend to dodge, letting it hit her again and heading back to the side. The boy’s face went wide with shock, looking absolutely appalled that she let herself get hit. Felix took advantage of the distraction, firing another ball towards his legs.

The whole gym went silent as the ball hit his calf, bouncing off and rolling away.

Felix had won.

“YAY YOU DID IT FELIX!” January ran over and shook Felix’s shoulders excitedly. Maddox clapped him on the back and smiled.

“That other guy can really dodge though. What’s their name? Castro?” January pointed at the boy - Castro - with a huge grin. They had coppery brown hair tied back into a loose bun and a bright jacket, standing next to Winola and smiling at her from across the gym.

“He’s good.” Felix nodded at January, still kind of in awe at how well Castro had dodged all the balls they’d thrown at him, especially January’s. “I definitely would want him on my team next time.”

“We should trade Maddox off for him.” January said, before skipping over to Mr. Prader. January talked with Mr. Prader for a bit, giving his usual charismatic smile that seemed to win everyone over, before running back towards Felix and Maddox.

Mr. Prader blew into his whistle. “Castro, Exermas, you’re switching teams.”

Felix was kind of shocked that January so easily switched over Maddox, seeing as they had been practically attached at the hip since he first met them. He guessed that January really was that serious about dodgeball.

Maddox gave January a grin, punching him in the arm but not seeming that bothered, and joining Winola on the other side. Castro laughed awkwardly and headed over towards Felix and January, waving bye to his old team.

Felix immediately walked up to Castro, giving him a huge smile. “That was super cool how you caught January’s ball last round. I’m Felix, by the way.”

“Oh uh, thanks!” They replied, sounding a little surprised that someone willingly wanted them on their team. He reached out his hand, speaking in a slight Cuban accent. “I’m Adelio.”

Felix shook it ecstatically. “Did you just move here?”

Adelio smiled back. “Yup. I was sick yesterday so I couldn’t come, but I feel a lot better today.” They tucked a loose strand of hair behind their ear.

Just then, January sauntered over. “Nice dodges last round,” He told Adelio. “But be warned, this round will be a lot harder.” His mismatched eyes were trained on Maddox, who was smiling from across the gym, but there was this sense of bloodlust to it. Felix was pretty sure he had never seen Maddox look so competitive. He wasn’t worried though, because unlike January, Maddox was skinny and kind of weak. The only thing he had going for him was his height. Felix was confident that the three of them alone would be able to beat Maddox and Winola.

The whistle blew, and once again Winola’s team charged the balls while Felix, January and Adelio ran up alone, their group hiding back. Felix grabbed two balls, Winola’s team already firing at the kids in the back. He took aim immediately at their weakest link: Winola, who he knew wouldn’t dodge.

But instead of Felix’s ball hitting her, Maddox slid in front of Winola, catching the ball and giving Felix a sly grin.

Maddox had gotten him out.

Felix blinked, realizing how much he had underestimated him. He walked to the side in shock, leaning against the wall with his other teammates, watching as Maddox took down almost all of his remaining team. Maddox had stood around and done basically nothing the first round, yet now he hurled balls with one thousand times more accuracy, always hitting the mark. It was kind of impressive, if Felix was being honest.

Adelio was dodging about fifty balls at once, his old team screaming traitor at him as he jumped around and avoided their attacks.

Winola got smacked in the back of the head, which earned another whistle from Mr. Prader. “Since Higgins got hit by her own team that means her team has to do fifteen push-ups, each.”

Felix held back a laugh and smirked at Maddox, growing more amused by the second. He didn’t even care that they were losing anymore. Maddox’s eyes flashed dangerously at the sight of Felix’s smirk, and he dropped to the ground, doing the fastest fifteen push-ups Felix had ever seen in his entire life. He jumped back up and threw another ball, nailing Adelio in the face.

Adelio, who had now been hit as hard as possible, twice, walked off, nose bleeding. “Wow, that guy’s good, isn’t he?” He leaned up next to Felix.

Felix snorted. “Um- yeah.” He reached into his pants pocket, retrieving a pink handkerchief with floral print. “You’re bleeding though.”

“Oh am I?” Adelio touched his face, fingers coming up with blood. He accepted Felix’s handkerchief with a thanks.

Now it was January against seven people.

He threw the ball directly at Winola, just like Felix had, and Felix was sure that they had lost. But Maddox didn’t jump in front of her this time, and Winola was hit. Her team cheered, even though their captain had just gotten out. Winola didn’t seem to care, ignoring their jeering and looking overjoyed to be finally out of dodgeball.

“Your team is full of assholes, huh?” Felix muttered to Adelio.

“Well, my ex-team,” Adelio said, still pressing the handkerchief to his nose, red splotches soaking through. “Poor Higgins.”

“She’s bad, but not that bad.” Felix lied, knowing full well she was that bad.

“I mean, she seems like she wanted to go out anyway.” Adelio smiled, glancing back to where Maddox and January were going one for one.

“Just the moment I was waiting for.” January picked up a ball and looked to the side. “I will avenge my team!” He said, all dramatics.

“A special little present just for you.” He murmured, pressing his thumb on the top of the ball. It sunk into his hands, growing even heavier.

Felix’s eyes went wide, already knowing what January planned to do, his whole body freezing up in fear at the thought of it. He really wanted to strangle January now. He cursed himself for ever joining that absolute idiot. Maddox smirked, his eyes flashing blue, somehow proving to be just as stupid as January. He had thought that Maddox was the voice of reason out of their duo, but he guessed not.

January winded up, throwing the ball at the speed of light. Felix could only watch in suspense, not able to make himself move.

Maddox jumped to the side, and the ball whizzed past him, crashing into the wall where he was a second ago. It cracked.

“Whoops,” January laughed. “That was a little too hard, I’ll go softer this time.” He picked up another ball, this time sinking it even deeper into his palms.

Felix was pretty sure he was going to combust. He bit down on his jaw, his whole body just screaming to pounce on January and stop him from getting himself killed. He threw the second ball, and Maddox dodged in the opposite direction. The ball hit the exact same spot, cracking the wall even further.

Maddox smiled. “It’s almost like the balls are getting heavier.”

“It’s almost like you’re predicting where I throw them.” January shot back, picking up another dodgeball.

They both had a death wish.

Felix was grinding his teeth now, absolutely seething in anger. He clenched and unclenched his fists, trying to force himself to calm down. Mr. Prader was standing right there, watching all this go down, wearing his usual stoic expression. Felix couldn’t tell if he knew, if he had any clue what January and Maddox were pulling right now. He couldn’t get Bliss’ words out of his head, how he supposedly carried a gun in his pants pocket. He couldn’t believe January, claiming how much he wanted to help them, only to use his powers in public the next day. He was full of false promises and lies.

“Man,” January said, placing his thumb atop a new ball, as it instantly sunk down into his palms again. “It’d be real nice if I could portal away.”

Felix was going to murder January Restall.

He had to physically restrain himself from running and pummelling January. He laughed loudly, shaking in rage, and glared daggers at the two of them. “You guys are so funny. This is so funny!” He smiled, wide and devoid of humour. “THIS IS SO HILARIOUS. WHO’S GOING TO WIN? YOU’RE CRACKING ME UP!” He laughed again, sounding absolutely deranged.

Adelio placed a hand on Felix’s shoulder, looking concerned for his sanity. “You feeling okay? I think you should sit down.”

Felix shook his head, still smiling like a crazed madman. “No, no. I need to see this.”

Adelio patted Felix on the back. “Whatever you say.”

January and Maddox continued to throw balls back and forth, January’s cracking the walls and floor each time, and Maddox dodging each one perfectly. Felix was about to pop a blood vessel, his whole body jolting every time January’s balls hit. He was glaring at January so hard that his eyes were practically bugging out of his face.

“Could you hold still?” January asked, drilling yet another ball, which hit the wall with a loud crack.

“Five minutes left!” Mr. Prader called, still watching the two of them intently.

January spiked another ball, and Maddox stepped in front of it. He placed his hands over his chest where the ball was aimed, looking at January with a huge grin.

Maddox grabbed the ball, skidding backwards across the floor and leaving marks. He slammed into the gym wall, before slowly sliding down, January’s ball still clutched in his hands. He smirked.

“TEAM HIGGINS WINS!”

Winola’s team engulfed her, all cheering her name and shouting like they hadn’t been calling her names and giving her dirty looks the entire class. Adelio ran over to January. “Wow, you throw so hard!” Felix ran up to him as well, standing right next to Adelio, smiling uncannily. “Meet me in the locker room after class, bitch.”

“Sure thing!” January smiled good-naturedly, before walking off to meet with Maddox. Felix stared at him wordlessly, quaking with anger.

“ATTENTION CLASS!” Mr. Prader interrupted everyone’s conversations, coughing loudly and standing at the front.

“Today, you’ll all be getting your gym shirts.” He reached into his seemingly endless pant pocket and pulled out a handful of t-shirts, all coral-pink, a huge howling wolf plastered on the front under the words DRHS. “You will wear these every day in gym, along with a change of pants of your choice. Now let’s go to the locker rooms.” He said, tossing the shirts into a pile on the floor, allowing everyone to find their right size. Felix grabbed his, too enraged by January to even care about how cool he thought the shirts looked.

Mr. Prader led the class to the locker rooms, first pointing to a sign with unicorns and hearts that read BOYS, then leading them to the next door, which had a sign with dinosaurs and lightning bolts and said GIRLS. Finally he reached the last room, the gender-neutral change room, which had both dinosaurs and unicorns. Felix was still glaring at January murderously, the latter not bothered at all by the death looks he was receiving.

The bell rang, and Felix immediately stomped into the gender-neutral locker room with clenched fists, motioning for January to follow angrily.

January leaned in to whisper something to Maddox, waving goodbye and following behind Felix.

As soon as the door swung shut, Felix whipped around. “YOU.” He kicked at January, aiming right for his balls, all while swinging at his face.

January moved back just in time, saving both his balls and his face from disaster. “Now what’s this all about?” He asked calmly, like he was almost confused on why Felix could be mad, still moving just out of reach.

Felix was about to explode. It was enough that he had used his powers - which could have gotten all of them exposed - but now he had the audacity to pretend like he didn’t know exactly why Felix could be angry. Felix was pretty sure he hadn’t met someone so completely stupid in his entire life.

He despised January Restall.

Felix kept swinging at his face, January dodging each of his attacks, no longer trying to reason with him. His aura flickered, like it had yesterday in the club room, January no longer radiating a laidback presence like he had two moments before, almost like it was dangerous to be around him now. Like January was going to actually hurt him.

Felix didn’t care, too caught up in rage. He kicked at him, swinging his arms wildly.

“That’s not very good form.” January said slowly, narrowing his eyes.

Felix yelled in frustration, aiming at his face once again. He decked January right in the nose, but January did not stumble back or even really react to the punch. He gripped Felix’s wrist tightly, keeping him in place firmly.

Felix strained against him, pure fury contorting his features. He spat at January’s feet. “What the hell did you think you were doing? In front of everyone? I trusted you! You’re such a fucking idiot!”

January’s face was deadly calm, devoid of any emotion. He pressed his thumb against Felix’s hand, and Felix could feel himself start to sink into the ground, cracks forming at his feet. “I don’t know why you’re getting so upset when I didn’t even look at you the whole game.” He said, humour in his voice.

“That show you put on with Maddox? Cracking the wall? Oh yeah, that was fine. Mr. Prader was right there!” Felix hissed, voice shaking with pure anger. “And saying ‘I wish I could portal away’? You’re going to get us all killed! I cannot believe I ever trusted you!”

“I don’t see how risking my life and playing with my powers affected you.” January said, with the slightest hint of annoyance.

"Because, you're going to take us down with you! You act like its no biggie, like you're better than all of us! But I'm fed up with it. Do you know what they're going to do, once they kill you? They'll trace you back to me. To Winola, to Maddox, to everyone in your little dumb club! You act like it doesn't effect everyone, but it does! Don't you care about anybody else? Because I care!"

“If I didn’t care then you’d be dead already.” January looked Felix straight in the eyes, his gaze burning into Felix’s, still sinking him deeper and deeper into the ground.

"Then what was your brilliant plan of showing off in front of Prader, of all people?" Felix growled through clenched teeth, glaring back up at him. “You know, the one with a fucking gun?"

“You saw his face. He probably thought it was nothing.” January replied, speaking in one hundred percent honesty.

"You know," Felix got as close to January's face as he could. "You think you're smarter than everyone else. But news flash! You're not. And when you get yourself, or Maddox, or anyone in this club killed because you think you're so high and mighty, I'm going to feel real sorry. Not for myself. But for you. Because you're too STUCK UP YOUR OWN ASS TO SEE IT, JANUARY RESTALL!" Felix screamed, January's name said like its a slur.

January’s eyes flashed for a moment, and he swung back at lightning speed, decking Felix square in the face.

Felix reeled back, hand instantly going up to his burning face. “Ow.” He muttered indignantly.

January stepped back, his eyes returning back to normal. He looked down at Felix, shock plastered on his face.

“What was that for?” Felix demanded, his anger fading, too in awe that January actually punched him that hard.

“I’m sorry.” January said with an awkward smile, jumping to help him up again. He was a completely different person from a second ago, back to his normal cheery self.

Felix narrowed his eyes at January, rubbing his nose with a scowl. “Huh. You didn’t answer my question.”

“You were just talking so much and I guess it was instinct?” January rambled, pulling Felix up.

Felix eyed him. “Where did you learn to punch like that?”

“My mom taught me.” January said. “You can punch me back, if you want.”

“Sure.” Felix swung back, and as hard as he possibly could, he punched January across the face again.

January barely even budged, but his nose did start to bleed.

“Nice punch.” He said with a slight grin, swiping at his nose with the hem of his sleeve, smearing blood all over it.

“Thanks.” Felix wiped his hand on his shorts. “You’re good at fighting.” He said approvingly, albeit begrudgingly.

“Thanks. Me and Maddox haven’t practiced in a while.”

“Do you… practice your powers, or whatever, a lot? You’re both reckless idiots but you…” Felix hesitated, swallowing hard, like it was physically impossible to say something nice about January Restall. “You have a good control over your powers.”

“I play around with it whenever I get the chance, but Maddox practices a lot.” January said truthfully, holding up his hand to his nose to stop the bleeding.

Felix paused, widening his eyes. “You actually… do that?”

“I mean, in a world with powers it only makes sense to use them when you can.” January grinned.

The thought of practicing with his powers was foreign to Felix, and once again he couldn’t help but feel excited at the idea of it. His whole life his powers had been nothing but a nuisance, something that put him in danger constantly, something he couldn’t control, something he had to hide. But January seemed to think they were good, seemed to actually be proud that he was a Diole. It was strange.

There was a part of Felix that wished he could be like January, wished he could freely use his powers like that.

“We could test yours out with my gun if you’re still up for it.” January offered, practically reading Felix’s thoughts.

Felix stared at him long and hard. “How have you not gotten caught yet? With your rich dad who despises people like… us?”

“Well my rich dad acts like I don’t exist so I guess it works out for me.” January shrugged with a smile.

Felix didn’t know what to say. His anger, his suspicions, his distrust, all vanished. Staring at January now, he just seemed to be lonely. Felix couldn’t imagine what it would be like, to have Howard Restall as your father. He bet it probably wasn’t great. “That’s… kind of fucked up.”

“Is it?” January asked, beginning to walk back to the door. “I’m not very good with relationships.”

“I know.” Felix sighed. “Look, sorry for freaking out on you, or whatever. You’re still annoying and reckless, and a major idiot but… you’re okay, I guess.”

“And,” Felix faltered. He knew this was probably the worst decision of his life, but he couldn’t resist. He was speaking before he even really realized what he was saying. “You’re good at fighting. So, I mean, it would be uh… alright if you taught me. And stuff.” The words tumbled out, too nervous and fast to stop them.

January turned around again, eyes lighting up the happiest Felix had ever seen them. “Really?”

“Um,” Felix fidgeted with his hands, picking at his nail polish. No turning back now. “Yeah.” He said, the word coming with a rush of relief.

He was really going to do this.

“Great!” January beamed at Felix, absolutely over the moon. He pulled the door open for him. “Tomorrow after school you’re coming to my house.”

Felix walked out, following January and left to wonder if this was all going to be a huge mistake.

[dioles-writes]

• DIOLES MASTERLIST •

All credits go to the very talented amazing @jiphenn as the story belongs to her!!

SYNOPSIS: Fifteen years ago, the government decided to wipe out all magic users, known as Dioles. Now, Felix Rodriguez and Winola Higgins, two teenage Dioles, find themselves struggling to live a normal life while trying to conceal their magic. That is, until the first day of 11th grade, when two of their classmates discover their secret.

CONTENT WARNINGS: Heavy violence, major character death, suicidal ideation, implied/referenced suicide attempts, implied/referenced self harm, substance abuse, torture, body horror

FIC/FICLETS IN ORDER:

OC Ficlet: January Restall

OC Ficlet: The Text

OC Fic: Room 2703

OC Fic: Dodgeball to the Death

OC Ficlet: January’s Secret Chest

OC Ficlet: The Sleepover

OC Fic: Babysitting

OC Fic: The Woods

OC Ficlet: Felix & Reagan’s Fight

OC Fic: Board Game Club Introductions

OC Fic: Howard Restall

OC Ficlet: Diole Camp 82

OC Fic: Parent-Teacher Interviews

OC Ficlet: Taskbar

OC Fic: The Winter Concert

OC Ficlet: Chumps Jr. - Week 4

OC Fic: Chumps Jr. - Week 5

OC Fic: Chumps Jr. - Week 7

OC Ficlet: The Infirmary

OC Fic: Welcome to Paradise!

OC Fic: The Mansion

OC Ficlet: Reese’s Question

OC Ficlet: The Board Game Club Meeting

OC Fic: The Day of New Waves

OC Ficlet: Haru

OC Ficlet: The Aftermath

OC Ficlet: Breaking News

OC Ficlet: AX68299H

OC Fic: Venus

OC Ficlet: Ensio and Ilona's talk

OC Ficlet: The Underground Diole Training Headquarters

OC Fic: Adelio’s House

OC Ficlet: The Accident

OC Ficlet: Orla

OC Ficlet: Atiah’s Arms

OC BLORBS:

OC Blorb: One Year

OC Blorb: Slipping Through My Fingers

OC Blorb: What Is Home Like? (by @jiphenn 🥰)

OC Blorb: Gunther’s Decision (by @jiphenn 🥰)

OC Blorb: Kuali’i’s Promise (by @jiphenn 🥰)

CHARACTER INFO:

Dioles Character Songs

The Board Game Club

BGC Fun Facts

Timeline

Diole Camps

Powers

CHARACTERS:

Seperate character bios will have updated appearances and character info from later on in the story.

FELIX • Character Bio | Update | Update

WINOLA • Character Bio | Update | Update

JANUARY • Character Bio | Update

MADDOX • Character Bio | Update | Update

AKALI • Character Bio | Update | Update

BLISS • Character Bio

ADELIO • Character Bio

AVIL • Character Bio

ALZENA • Character Bio | Update | Update

NYSSA • Character Bio | Update | Update

ASTLEY • Character Bio | Update | Update

RORY • Character Bio | Update

KUALI’I • Character Bio | Update

WILDER • Character Bio | Update | Update

GUNTHER • Character Bio

VINCENT • Character Bio

HAVEN • Character Bio

MANON • Character Bio

REESE • Character Bio

BORISLAVA • Character Bio

EINAR • Character Bio

SHEHANI • Character Bio

ATIAH • Character Bio

UNA • Character Bio

HIRAYA • Character Bio

MR PRADER •

CORA • Character Bio

HARU • Character Bio

ENSIO • Character Bio

ILONA • Character Bio

DELLA • Character Bio

REAGAN • Character Bio

PAISLEY • Character Bio

VENUS •

TINDRA •

SEIJUN •

BARBARA •

CALIX •

AMARYLLIS •

[ Felix, Paisley, and Reagan are all mine, but the rest of the characters belong to @jiphenn ]

CHARACTER QUESTIONS

93 OC Questions: January, Una, & Paisley

[dioles-writes]

• OC FICLET •

Masterlist | Characters: Felix (he/him), Nyssa (she/her), Winola (she/her), Cora (she/her)

The story + characters in purple belong to @jiphenn!!

Winola belongs to @sleepsloooop

Felix strolled into class, plopping himself down at his usual spot next to Nyssa, who was hunched over her desk doodling in a notebook, ruby hair hanging over the side of the paper, shielding her face.

She didn't look up.

"Hey Nyssa." He smiled at her.

Nyssa was quiet as usual. "Hi." She mumbled back, still not daring to glance up at him.

Felix was undeterred, casually continuing the conversation without a care in the world. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," she replied, just as quiet. "How are you?"

"Great. That presentation really was something!" Felix laughed.

"Oh... yeah." She fidgeted with her pencil, fingers fumbling with it nervously.

"What did you think of Howard Restall?" Felix leaned forwards, resting his chin in his palms and looking over at her curiously.

"Um, he was kinda scary." Nyssa mumbled, still fiddling with her pencil and refusing to meet Felix's gaze.

"He kept glaring at me."

"Oh," Nyssa's voice was somehow growing even quieter the longer Felix talked to her. "That must've been scary."

"I guess." Felix shrugged, all nonchalant, despite the fact that he had almost shit his pants at the sight of the man. One thing, he was certain, was that he never wanted to come in contact with Howard Restall for as long as he lived, if he could help it. Had he been stuck in that gymnasium with Howard Restall's icy green eyes on him for a second longer, than he was sure he would have just passed away. He was just glad that it was finally over.

Now he could go back to dreaded math, which, as much as it bored him out of his mind, was a nice difference from the stress of the past week and a half.

Speaking of math, Ms. Cora finally cleared her throat. "So, how did everyone find the presentation today?" She asked, glancing around at the class.

The room went dead silent.

Ms. Cora turned her attention towards Felix and Winola. "You guys sat in the front row, didn't you guys?" She asked with a small smile. The two of them both nodded.

Great, Felix thought. The one time I actually want to focus on math and we're too busy talking about this stupid presentation. He was slowly beginning to hate being the center of attention all the time. Two weeks ago he wouldn't have ever even dared to think that. This school really was ruining his life.

"How was it?" Ms. Cora asked.

"It was fine." Winola replied in that quiet, short-answered way of hers.

"Y'know, I used to work under Howard Restall." Ms. Cora said, spinning around in her chair, her curly orange hair slightly swishing in the air.

That caught Felix's attention.

His eyes went wide. "You did?" He blurted. Ms. Cora was probably one of the nicest people in the faculty that he had met so far, the idea that she worked under Howard Restall came as a sudden shock. Though, a part of him knew it should've been to be expected. She was a former student of Mr. Prader's, no doubt she'd been involved with the GDEO.

"Mhm," she hummed, still twirling around in her chair. "Diole Camp 82."

"Wow!" Felix tried to push down the spike of fear that ran through his blood at that. A former Diole Camp worker... as his math teacher. The idea of being so close to someone like that almost terrified him to death, but he forced his expression into one of curiosity rather than horror. "What was it like?" He pressed.

“Ah, it was fun. Get some blood samples, teach them the alphabet, watch them while they play in their power rooms.”

“Power rooms?”

“Oh yes! Sometimes the kids are let out and monitored by scientists in these boarded-up rooms. In there they’re allowed to use their powers so that the scientists can get info and do labs.” She stopped spinning, eyes locking with Felix's once again. Despite the serene smile on her face, Felix couldn't help the way his skin crawled, trapped under her gaze.

Still, he pushed further. "What were they like?"

"White walls, one-way glass, cushioned floor, singular light."

Felix had never paid more attention in math class before. He focused in on Ms. Cora, hanging onto her every word, eyes scanning her face as she talked. “Did the Dioles ever try to break out?”

"Sometimes."

"What did you do?" Felix leaned closer to her, the rest of the room fading away.

Cora gave him a smile, the air seeming to turn ten degrees cooler as she turned to point at the corner. Her large, shiny pink gun grinned up at Felix from across the room.

"That's what we got those for."

[dioles-writes]

• OC FIC •

Masterlist | Characters: Felix (he/him), Bliss (she/her), Akali (he/him), Winola (she/her), Cora (she/her), January (he/him), Alzena (she/her), Maddox (he/him), Adelio (they/he), Avil (she/her), Wilder (he/him), Mr Prader (he/him), Howard Restall (he/him)

Characters in purple all belong to @jiphenn and Winola belongs to @sleepsloooop

Bliss and Akali were waiting outside for Felix as he made his way out of the bakery, bright and early as always. “Good morning!” Bliss greeted him happily, flashing him a smile. Akali was less enthusiastic, mumbling a “morning” in his usual monotone, along with a half-wave.

“Morning!” Felix grinned at them, hopping down the steps and joining the two as they started on the rest of their walk to school. “Are you guys ready to see Howard Restall?!”

They both nodded in response, although Akali seemed much more indifferent to the whole ordeal. Felix definitely wasn’t. He had been trying to hide it, but he’d spent the night restless, absolutely terrified of actually seeing the man in person. He was practically shaking at just the thought of it. Nevertheless, he continued on like it was a perfectly normal day, smiling like Howard Restall wasn’t the one person that scared him the most, the one person who had, inconsequently, made his life a literal hell. The one person that held the most power over him, over his family. The one person he would have rathered going his whole entire life without meeting.

“I can’t believe we’re actually going to meet him. Like… Howard Restall. The Howard Restall.” He murmured.

“I wonder what he’s here for.” Bliss said curiously.

“Me too! Do you think he’s investigating? Maybe he heard about a group of Dioles.” Felix was rambling, his anxiety getting the best of him. On a regular day there would have been no way he’d even suggest something like that, something that could be directly tied back to the Board Game Club, to him, but right now it was taking all he had to not fall apart, the sinking feeling in his stomach becoming harder to ignore the closer they got to the school. “Maybe he’s going to uncover them!”

“Imagine a group of Dioles living right under your nose! Like talking to them every day and then finding out they’re Dioles!” Bliss said, which made Akali and Felix laugh, the two of them giving each other a knowing look over her head. No statement had ever been more ironic.

“I know, right? That’d be insane.” Felix grinned at her. “I couldn’t imagine knowing an actual Diole. Maybe they have different thought processes and stuff. I heard they’re automatically more aggressive.”

“Imagine if like…” Bliss paused, thinking for a second. “January Restall was a Diole. Wouldn’t that be weird? Considering the odds there’s probably at least like ten Dioles at our school. Maybe Howard Restall is trying to find them.”

“Imagine being a Diole when your father created Diole Eradication? That’d be so fucked up.”

They crossed onto the street, the school appearing before them. Well that, and also the millions of shiny black limousines parked all down the road, blocking any type of traffic from passing by. The three friends themselves could barely even walk through, a hoard of reporters and paparazzi clicking away at different flashy cameras and swarming each student that tried to make their way into the building, shooting questions in rapid-fire. Felix glanced around, eyes widening at the sight before them. This was definitely a first for their shitty broken-down school. “Woah…” He murmured, in awe.

“Oh wow, that’s a lot of people.” Akali muttered.

“Is that Winola?” Bliss said, pointing to a girl who stood a few feet away.

Felix almost didn’t notice her. She was practically being engulfed by reporters, each of them pushing and shoving against her, backing her even further away from the school as they interrogated her. It looked like they were trying to blind her, their cameras all flashing only inches away from her face. She was wearing her usual dead expression, looking deeply unimpressed, like she would have preferred death over this. “Little girl, how do you feel being in the presence of Howard Restall?” A reporter shouted, louder than the rest, forcing his microphone right against her lips. Winola didn’t respond to him, acting as if he wasn’t even there, and just kept trying to push past. Although, she wasn’t having much luck, seeing as she was five zero and probably a hundred pounds, and they were all taller and stronger than her.

After a few more tries she sighed, the sound echoing through all the microphones. “Can you please move?”

A camera was literally shoved against her cheek. They were completely overpowering her now, the crowd of reporters growing even larger by the minute, pushing and shoving and screaming. Winola squared her jaw, blowing a few strands of hair out of her face and glaring up at the reporters. “Can you please move?” She repeated, evidently annoyed.

“Little girl, are you aware that this man saved your life?” The reporter shouted again, practically sticking the mic into her mouth.

“Please move.” Winola said through gritted teeth, still stubbornly trying to make it through and just get to school.

“It is reported that Howard Restall’s son also goes here, is that true?”

Winola shrugged, not caring in the slightest for their questions.

“Do you have any clue who Howard Restall really is?”

That just got another shrug out of her.

All the reporters gasped. “Howard Restall, forty-one years old, male, no spouse, one child, Founder and Head of Diole Eradication.” They started to recite a full-blown history lesson. “Howard Restall formed the Diole Eradication in 1996, at the young age of twenty-six. He created the act after seeing the horribly high crime rates, and after the disappearance of his childhood friend Vincent. Five years after the birth of their son, Restall’s wife also disappeared.”

“Why are you talking to me for when you could be interviewing Howard Restall?” Winola snapped.

“He’s gone inside the building already.” One of the reporters retorted sassily.

“Well, can you please leave me be?” Winola huffed, ramming all her weight into the wall of paparazzi, attempting to plow them over. (Which was of course, to no luck.)

“We should probably help her out now.” Felix said finally, ending the three from their shocked gawking at all the commotion. “Rescue her from all those stupid reporters.”

“Wow, so heroic.” Akali said with a joking smirk. Felix grinned at him and made his way across the street, forcing his way through the crowd and sidling right up next to Winola. The reporters all eagerly made room for him, and at once there were at least twenty microphones shoved in his face, all fighting for dominance over each other. “Young man, how do you feel that Howard Restall is in your school at this very moment?” Someone shouted, their camera flashing at his face.

Felix gave them his signature charismatic smile, making sure they caught his good side. “Wow… I’m in awe. Truly.” He said, really getting into the act. “To think Howard Restall is in my high school right now? It’s really mind blowing. Just the thought of being able to meet him, I mean- Wow.”

“Are you aware of the rumours that Howard Restall’s son goes to your school?”

Felix gasped in mock shock, even bringing up a hand to his mouth for added effect. “Really?! It’s always been a dream of mine to meet a Restall.” He gushed.

“Why do you think Howard Restall is here today?”

“No clue. But I heard there were Dioles hiding close by the school, so maybe he’s checking out that.”

“Where did you hear that from?” Someone else shouted.

“I have my sources.”

“Like what?” There were five microphones pressed into his face all at once.

“You know, the neighbourhood gossip.” Felix shrugged. “Who knows if it’s true though. Then again, there was that group they found in that cabin last week.”

“Young man, how has Howard Restall changed your life?” Another reporter asked, waving their mic around.

“Honestly, he has given me so much inspiration. My parents were murdered by Dioles when I was just a baby and growing up has been so hard, knowing that these monsters are still out there…” He choked up with fake emotion, placing a hand over his heart in dramatics. “But Howard Restall has given me hope that one day our world can be at peace.”

“What a touching story. May we get your name, young man?”

“Felix Rodriguez.” Felix gave the cameras a winning smile.

“Thank you for your words.” They finally left, going over to swarm some other person like a pack of rabid dogs. Felix skipped on over to Akali and Bliss, who were waiting for him after saving Winola, standing slightly away from the crowd with bemused looks. “Wow, your first TV appearance!” Bliss cheered.

“And it’s you trauma dumping.” Akali added.

“It’s barely trauma. That was just to spice the interview up.” Felix grinned.

“Where do you think he’s going to be?” Bliss asked, starting to walk once again.

“Well we’re having an assembly, right? That’s what Mr. Prader said.”

“Oh yeah, half the school is going first period and the other half is going second period. When are you guys going?”

“Second.” Felix replied. “You?”

“First.”

“First!”

Felix sighed. Of course. He was going to be stuck with January with his creepy trances and Howard Restall all second period. “We’ll tell you how it is!” Bliss said as they approached the school, holding the door open for the two of them.

The three stepped through the doors, finally laying their eyes on the mass security.

It was packed. There were guards lined up and down each of the halls, covered head to toe in protective gear, their uniforms adorned with weaponry, shiny guns held close to their chests. Their eyes flickered towards the three of them, watching their every move, completely stony-faced. “Wow, they really went all out…”

“Well, it is Howard Restall.” Akali said. “He’s probably on every Dioles hit list.”

“Good morning Felix.” Ms. Cora said, passing by them while patrolling. Felix turned to give her a smile, only to find himself staring at the largest gun he had ever seen in his entire life. It was impossibly shiny and pink, strapped close to Ms. Cora’s chest. She smiled.

Felix’s eyes widened, dread sinking in even further. “Morning.” He replied quickly, internally panicking.

“I told you she was armed.” Bliss whispered.

“Yeah.” Felix whispered back. “Oh my god…”

The bell rang, pulling Felix’s thoughts to a much more boring but equally dreadful topic: Chemistry. He gave a slight sigh. “Well, I gotta get to Chem now, so bye!”

“Byeee!”

“Bye.”

He headed down the hall, turning into his science class, where he found January sitting in their usual spot. “Hey,” Felix said, dumping his bag on the floor and taking his seat next to him. “Did you see all those reporters outside?”

“Yeah, there sure is a lot!” January said, glancing up from his phone.

“Have you seen your dad yet?”

He shook his head no.

“Are you nervous?” Felix pressed, so nervous himself that he was practically shaking.

January thought for a minute. “A little.”

“Did any of the reporters stop you? There was a whole crowd blocking the doors, I even had to rescue Winola.”

“No, I came in extra early through one of the back doors.”

“Oh.” Felix nodded, tapping his fingers anxiously on the edge of his desk. “I have them a whole story. I’ll probably make the news!”

He froze, the realization of what that actually meant hitting him like a truck. He slowly turned to face January, eyes wide with fear. “Oh my god. I’ll probably make the news.”

January stared at him like he was crazy. “Isn’t that what you wanted if you gave them a story?”

“My sister is going to murder me!”

“Then why’d you talk about it?” January asked, amazed by his pure stupidity.

“I don’t know!” Felix shrieked, horrified with himself. “I was trying to keep them off my back. Also, I’ve never been on the news before! But now I’m going to be on the news. I gave them my full name!” Felix’s mood rapidly switched, going between absolutely panicked and excited at the attention. “But maybe it’ll work in my favour! OR I’LL BE DEAD BY TOMORROW BECAUSE I WENT ON THE NEWS AND MY SISTER IS ALREADY PISSED AT ME.”

“Well it won’t air until tonight so you’ll have some time to prepare.”

“Oh my god. That’s worse!” Felix gripped January’s shoulders, looking at him petrified with fear. “Then I’ll be home. And she can just murder me right there!”

“Just have a sleepover at Akali’s house.”

“Practically his whole family hates me.” Felix sighed, slumping back in his chair.

“Oh.”

“And his little sister tried to kill me.”

“Oh!”

Felix put his head in his hands in utter despair. “But technically I was helping myself by going on the news, right?! So she can’t be mad!”

“Yeah, I’m sure she won’t be mad!” January said reassuringly, patting his back.

“No!” Felix looked even more terrified. “She’s gonna be. She’s crazy!”

“Just tune it out!”

“She’s going to beat me. She’ll strangle me!”

“She won’t!” January continued to pat his back and reassure him, despite the fact that he was definitely under more pressure.

“You don’t know that! You’ve never even met her properly. Howard Restall ruined everything.”

“Everything’s not ruined!”

Felix sighed loudly.

The rest of the morning passed by surprisingly normally, Chemistry for once flying by. Finally, an announcement crackled through the speakers: “All period two students going to the assembly please make your way to the main gym.”

Felix glanced at January nervously, standing up alongside him. His expression was completely neutral, not showing any sort of indication to what he might be thinking. Slowly, they followed the crowd, making their way towards the main gym.

January didn’t look to Felix once.

A tall, mean-looking security guard loomed over them as they approached the doors, his gaze cold. “ID please.”

They both fished out their ID’s, handing them over. Security throughly scanned through their ID’s before nodding and letting them through. Slowly, the two of them made their way into the gymnasium.

Security inside was even more packed than outside. Guards lined the walls, all standing in a tight row. Even more were positioned at the end of each of the bleachers, unmoving, guns held tight to their chests. Two guards took up spots beside Felix and January, marching them to the very front row.

There he was. The man himself.

Howard Restall.

He was silently sitting there, observing everyone. Felix kept his face completely neutral, bowing his head, trying to hunch down and become invisible - just for this once, disappear, but his flashy outfit drew the man’s attention. He locked eyes with him, mint-green eyes glaring into his brown ones, as he stared at Felix with a stoic expression. He could feel the same aura that January had radiating off of him: pure bloodlust.

Felix swallowed, forcing himself to stay calm under his piercing stare, and finally Howard Restall looked away, as Felix wasn’t worth his gaze.

It was as if a huge weight was lifted off of his shoulders. He sighed slightly in relief, following January down the row as he took a seat next to Adelio and Maddox. Winola and Alzena joined them, Alzena sitting beside him and Winola squishing onto the edge of the bench.

“Hi guys!” Someone said from behind them. Avil sat behind them, followed by Wilder. Felix gave her a small wave, his whole body tense with fear.

Slowly more people continued to flood into the gym, until finally, Mr. Prader walked up to the front and spoke into the mic. “Good morning students and staff.”

“Today we have a very special guest, Howard Restall.” Everyone clapped. “Before we start our presentation, let us rise for the national anthem.”

Everyone stood, and Mr. Prader cleared his throat, bursting into song, leading all of them with his heavenly voice. He sang the last note and everyone burst into applause.

“Now… I would like to introduce the Head of Diole Eradication, Howard Restall.” The audience burst into applause once again.

Howard Restall slowly stood up from his seat, going to stand in front of the mic. “Good morning everyone.” He said in a smooth, gentle voice. “I’m happy to be here with all of you today to share special news.” He gave the crowd a smile.

Felix glanced at January, so nervous he was practically sweating. January stared straight ahead at his dad, mesmerized by his appearance.

“But before I do, I have a question to ask you all.” Howard Restall looked around at all the different faces in the crowd, eyes flickering from student to student.

“How many of you have lost a loved one? Whether it be family, friend, or neighbour?” He paused. “Now I’d like you to raise your hand if that applies to you.”

Alzena, Wilder, Maddox, Adelio, and Felix raised their hands. “Now keep your hands up if it was due to a Diole attack or any circumstances involving a Diole.” Alzena and Wilder put their hands down but Adelio, Felix, and Maddox kept them up.

“If we look at the amount of people who raised their hands, 3/4 of the deaths in this area have been a result of Diole violence and crimes.” Howard Restall continued. “As we can see, there are no real ways that we can prevent a sudden Diole attack. Because of this, my team and I have been working on a way to identify Dioles before they can attack.”

Howard Restall pulled out a pure black briefcase. He opened it, pulling out and revealing a syringe filled with a deep purple liquid. “Dividen. A serum that can detect Dioles.” The purple colour was bright and alluring, in a sickening way. “This serum is able to detect the gene ‘Diaphantine’ in people, which is a gene that only Dioles possess.” He slowly moved the syringe around, flashing it towards each side of the audience.

“Once injected with this serum, the fluids will attack the gene. As a result of this, the Diole will die after around five minutes of being injected.” He declared, voice low.

The crowd went dead silent.

Felix turned to January with wide eyes, but January’s gaze was locked on his father.

“And we’ll be trying them out today!” Howard Restall cheered.

January still wouldn’t look at Felix.

“We’ll start with the front row.” Howard Restall started to approach them, the heels of his shoes clicking against the laminate floor. In the dead silence of the gymnasium, it was the only sound to be heard.

He turned to the person on the end of the row…

Winola.

He loomed over her, the purple liquid of the syringe glistening under the luminescent lights. Slowly and carefully, he pushed back the sleeve of her sweater, holding the needle against her forearm. The entire gym could feel the intense aura surrounding Howard Restall, like he was actually going to snap her neck rather than stick a needle in her.

“Just kidding!” He pulled the needle away and laughed. “The vaccines still need a little more research, so all you Dioles in here are safe.” He said, going back to his place at the front.

“The release date of the vaccine is January of next year. But due to this news the GDEO suspects there will be a rise in Diole crime rates and attacks. Even after the release of the vaccine, not all Dioles will happily comply.” He said, looking around again. “So due to this, I have created these.”

He pulled out another item from the briefcase. A bullet, also purple in colour. “Can anyone guess what makes this bullet stand out from the others?”

Everyone was silent.

“Wow, a quiet audience. Am I really that scary?” He said with a laugh, like he wasn’t the Head of Diole Eradication.

“Well. As you can see with the similarity in colour, these bullets contain the same serum that is in the vaccines. If a Diole is shot with one of these bullets, it will be guaranteed to kill them.” He hummed, playing with the bullet. “These also are still being tested, and likely won’t be distributed until late January to early February.”

Howard Restall continued to talk more about Diole safety statistics and gun safety, droning on like any other assembly they had. It was just like a regular speaker, except for the fact that this was Howard Restall. He went on to talk about boring business economics and Diole stuff. But Felix was barely listening anymore. His head was spinning, fear freezing him in place.

Blood rushed in his ears. His heart was beating so hard he could swear that it was going to leap right out of his chest. Fear tightened around his lungs, his breaths coming out as shaky little huffs. He tightened his grip on the bench, hands beaded with sweat.

Despite knowing all of this information for over a week, Felix couldn’t believe his ears. There was something about sitting here, staring up at the Head of Diole Eradication, the sickening violet liquid of the syringe glaring down at him, that made his situation a thousand times more real.

Five minutes.

That’s all it would take. Five minutes… and then, it’d be over. Nothing would matter. He knew the vaccine was dangerous, he knew it would’ve torn his life apart, but not like this. Not to this extent.

His life really was in January’s hands. If he couldn’t manage to hack their files, then that would really mean…

He was going to die.

“Thank you for listening.” Howard Restall’s voice pulled him from his spiralling thoughts, interrupting any more of his stressing. “I hope to see most of you when the vaccine comes out.” He smiled before sitting back down.

One by one they all stood up and left out the door, leaving January sitting on the edge of the bench, eyes still helplessly locked on his father.

[dioles-writes]

• OC FIC •

Masterlist | Characters: Felix (he/him), Reagan (she/her), Paisley (she/they/he), Haven (she/they), Gunther (he/him), Cora (she/her), Mr Prader (he/him)

Also as always credits to @jiphenn because the ocs in purple are hers!!

“Are you ready, Felix?”

It was Reagan, calling to him from downstairs. Felix fixed his shirt, yelling that he’d be down in a second. He’d gone for a more casual look today: Black button-up, striped black slacks, and a striped black-and-white cropped jacket. This outfit was definitely a step down from his usual extravagant neon clothes.

He ran downstairs, joining Reagan and Paisley who were waiting patiently for him. He slipped into the best dress shoes he had and followed them out the door, heading towards the school for Parent-Teacher interviews and praying the night didn’t end with him getting grounded until his grades went up.

They started their walk to the school, Reagan and Paisley hand in hand. It was a nice night for the beginning of November, not too freezing yet, just a thin layer of snow on the ground. It had already began to grow dark, even though it was barely passed five pm now. Reagan turned to him with a smile. “I wonder what they’ll say about you, Felix.”

Felix thought about all the math classes he spent staring into space or texting Akali and Bliss, not doing any work. Fortunately he had January to cheat off of in Chemistry, but he was just barely getting by like that. He was pretty sure the only class he’d be passing would be Gym, and he was retaking that from last year. “All good things.” He lied, hoping his teachers took some mercy on him.

Reagan raised an eyebrow. “I hope it’s all good things.”

Felix was reminded then about the fights he had gotten into in all of his classes. That was definitely not going to help his case. “It will be.” He smiled at her.

“Mr. Prader, Ms. Veerity, Ms. Cora and Mr. Noy, right?” Reagan asked, listing off all his teachers. Felix nodded at her. “I think we’re seeing Mr. Prader first.” Paisley said, to which Reagan immediately looked nervous.

Mr. Prader obviously would’ve scared Reagan the most. A famous veteran that had killed hundreds of Dioles in the great War of Power. Felix decided not to mention the fact that he was also armed at all times. Mr. Prader wasn’t that bad anyway, seeing as January and Maddox had both publicly used their powers in their second gym class, to which no one batted an eye. Mr. Prader never suspected a thing. The only one Felix really had to worry about was Ms. Cora, his math teacher. Not only was she a student of Mr. Prader’s, but she also used to work in Diole camps. She was armed at all times, just like the gym teachers. Felix had seen her gun before, and it was safe to say he never wanted to have that thing pointing at him.

But he was sure nothing out of the ordinary was going to happen tonight. Mr. Prader didn’t know about Felix - or the Board Game Club. Reagan was always constantly stressed about everything, and he was sure that even without him she would have found something else to worry about. Plus, Felix didn’t have the best track record at school, which had to be contributing to her nerves. He headed down the sidewalk, feeling completely unconcerned.

Finally, they made it to the school, heading down to the main gym where the Parent-Teacher Interviews were being held.

The gym was packed with people, different teachers all seated at different desks. Mr. Prader was easy to spot from his massive size - both in muscle and height.

“Good evening, Rodriguez.” Mr. Prader said in greeting, turning to Reagan and Paisley. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Mr. Prader.” He shook both of their hands before sitting back down.

“Felix is a wonderful student.” He was straight to the point. “Always changed, puts in effort, and gets along well with his peers.” Reagan’s smile was growing at each word. “He can be a little aggressive sometimes, but nothing that concerns me.” He continued, saying only good things about Felix. Reagan looked absolutely overjoyed to finally be hearing good news about Felix as a student.

Soon, Mr. Prader was standing up, shaking hands tightly with Reagan and Paisley, who both had smiles on their faces, and waving the next family over. The three of them left for his next teacher: Ms. Cora.

Reagan and Paisley sat down, looking pleased from how the first meeting had went. “I’m Cora, nice to meet you two.” Ms. Cora said with a smile. She seemed to be in a good mood, which Felix hoped meant she’d say only the good things.

She started off with the course outline, explaining what exactly they were doing, before moving onto Felix. “I love having Felix in my class.” Felix was immediately relieved. Ms. Cora only had nice things to say about him, which was to his slight shock, as he had cheated off of Nyssa several times on tests and almost never did his math homework. Reagan and Paisley looked glad at the news. He was surprised that the PT interviews seemed to be going this well.

“Okay, that’s about it. It was lovely meeting you guys.” Ms. Cora finished, eyes flickering to Paisley for a second too long. Paisley smiled, before quickly leaving behind Reagan.

Felix followed them, waving Ms. Cora goodbye, and heading to his third teacher, Ms. Veerity.

The interview didn’t go very well this time, and even though January usually texted Felix the answers to most of their assignments, Felix was absolutely flunking the class. He’d also skipped one too many times, which got a slight frown out of Reagan. Fortunately Paisley didn’t seem too worried, the good things from his first two teachers obviously outweighing the bad from Ms. Veerity. As long as Paisley wasn’t mad then he was sure he’d be fine, Reagan rarely did anything more than lecture him for his grades.

Lastly, Felix stood up and led them to Mr. Noy, his drama teacher, who still was busy with a family.

Reagan grinned at Felix. “They said such good things.” It was probably the first time ever that PT night that didn’t end up with either Reagan or Paisley looking severely disappointed in him. “I told you,” He smiled. “I’m an amazing student.”

“Oh look,” Reagan pointed over to someone standing a little while away. “Isn’t that your friend!”

It was Gunther, standing out in the crowd with his black-and-white mullet and Deftones t-Shirt. Beside him was who Felix presumed was his guardian. He waved him over with a smile.

That’s when Paisley’s eyes landed on his guardian. She instantly froze up as the two started to approach.

Gunther’s guardian looked towards Paisley, then to Reagan, then Felix. A look of complete shock was plastered on their face before it formed into a huge grin. “Marigold!”

Felix blinked in surprise. They were staring at Paisley like they somehow knew them - they’d called out to him as Marigold. Felix had never heard that name in his entire life. He had no clue who this person was.

“It’s been so long! This must be your family.” She looked towards Felix and Reagan. “Magnolia and Leonardo, right?”

Felix was absolutely flabbergasted. No one had ever called him by his middle name before. No one even knew his middle name, besides Reagan and Paisley. He’d definitely never heard anyone call Reagan by hers, either. He gave them a puzzled expression, too taken aback to say anything.

“Sorry, I should introduce myself.” She smiled. “I’m Haven.”

“Hi, I’m Felix.” Felix said, raising an eyebrow. This seemed to come as just much of a shock to Haven that it had to Felix when they knew his middle name. “Oh, Felix?” They asked. He nodded, feeling even more weirded out by this stranger.

“Oh sorry, I must have mixed you up with someone else.” They laughed lightly.

Paisley was standing stiffly, her usual calm and gentle aura gone. They were staring blankly at Haven, her expression completely unreadable. Felix glanced back to Haven, who was still smiling at the three of them. There was obviously some history between them, but Paisley seemed like he was horrified to be seeing them again.

“Oh, how do you know Paisley?” Reagan asked loudly, a fake smile plastered on her face. She grabbed Paisley’s hand again, giving it a squeeze, their matching promise rings flashing in Haven’s direction.

“Oh, we’re best friends.” Haven said back sweetly, but there was a hint of mischief in their voice. Reagan’s eyebrows furrowed slightly at their answer.

“Well, it looks like our appointment with the next teacher is coming up. Call me sometime, will you?” They said, giving a wave before walking off with Gunther.

Felix instantly turned to Paisley. “Marigold?”

Paisley didn’t look at him. “It’s a nickname.” She said quickly, turning away from Haven. There was something extremely suspicious about the whole thing, Felix thought. Paisley had never really talked about their past before, and Felix had never thought to ask. It was just something he had never spoken with her about. But there was something about the way he was acting… like she had something to hide. It put him on edge. He knew it wasn’t really any of his business, but the fact that this was also Gunther’s guardian just made him feel even more suspicious.

Were they a Diole too?

“Really?” He asked. Paisley still wouldn’t meet his eyes. He remembered Paisley vaguely saying that she’d never had really had any friends or family before she met Reagan. Reagan seemed to be thinking the same thing, watching Paisley nervously. “I thought you said you had no friends.”

“I haven’t talked to them in a while.” Paisley said dismissively, acting like he hadn’t froze up and gone completely silent at the sight of Haven. She kept eying Mr. Noy, not meeting either Felix or Reagan’s gaze. Reagan let go of their hand, looking confused and kind of hurt.

Finally the group that was with Mr. Noy left, and he waved over to the three of them, not allowing Felix to ask any more questions. He stared at Paisley long and hard once more, before taking a seat.

Mr. Noy started to go over the course outline, but Felix wasn’t really listening, too distracted by Haven. He’d never seen Paisley look so anxious at the sight of someone. Even after he’d lost control of his powers over and over, Paisley had always been the voice of reason, calming Reagan down and getting things ready for them to move again, reassuring him that everything would be fine. He wouldn’t have cared if Paisley had some old friend from high school or whatever, he’d probably have just zoned out while they caught up. But the whole thing had completely weirded him out. Calling him Leonardo, Reagan Magnolia, Paisley Marigold. The look on Paisley’s face when she noticed her.

Paisley didn’t seem to be paying attention either, zoning out and glancing back every few minutes. Felix played with his Board Game Club friendship bracelet anxiously, running his fingers along the bright yellow beads. He frowned, looking back to where Paisley was watching Haven.

Haven was happily chatting away with another teacher, Gunther leaned back comfortably in his chair by their side. They turned to look back at Felix, before smiling and waving.

Felix didn’t smile or wave back, instead narrowing his eyes at them.

Their eyes shimmered for a second… so quick Felix could have missed it. They turned their back to him, going to listen to Gunther’s teacher. Felix felt his jaw drop open. He was right.

They were a Diole.

“Right, Felix?” Mr. Noy asked, snapping him out of his trance. Reagan and Paisley turned to look at him expectantly.

“Right.” He said distractedly, not even hearing what Mr. Noy had to say. All he could think about was who Haven could possibly be… how they could have known Paisley. He wondered how many Dioles Gunther knew. He’d taken him to someone who had healed his snapped leg back in September, and now there was Haven with her shimmering eyes.

The entire gym turned to some commotion going down at Ms. Cora’s table, a few people gasping in fear. If Felix hadn’t been so preoccupied, he might’ve turned as well. But instead he looked back to Haven again, like if he stared at them long enough he might get some answers.

She was watching Ms. Cora in amusement. Gunther leaned over, whispering something in their ear, and they laughed.

Felix kept staring, finally catching their attention. They waved and smiled at him again, completely unbothered that he was glaring at them like a creep. Felix still didn’t wave back, keeping a straight face. Haven turned to whisper something in Gunther’s ear. Gunther whispered back.

Felix squinted at them, dying to know what they were talking about.

Haven laughed again, going back to listening to the teacher now that the fuss had died down. She stood up, shaking Gunther’s teachers hand. They smiled, and Gunther and her started heading towards the door.

Felix stood up abruptly. “I have to go to the bathroom.” He lied, the excuse coming out before he could think to stop himself. Paisley narrowed his eyes at him. Felix didn’t care, too set on talking to Haven again before they left. He chased after Gunther and Haven, rushing into the hall.

She was standing next to the bathroom, leaning against the wall. He ran right up to them, immediately blurting out, “Who are you?”

She didn’t look up, continuing to stare at her phone and text. “I thought I had already introduced myself.” She said with a smile.

“How do you know my middle name? And Paisley?” He demanded.

“Marigold told me.” She replied, ignoring his second question.

“Marigold? Why are you calling her Marigold? Paisley said he knew no one. Are you saying they lied?”

Haven didn’t look up from their phone, still smiling - like they knew something he didn’t. It infuriated Felix. “Is it wrong to call someone by their name?”

“But their name is Paisley.” Felix practically shouted.

“I guess times have changed.” Haven hummed. “How many years has it been now? Maybe nine.” They said to themself in thought.

“How did you meet Paisley?” Felix asked again, continuing to interrogate them. “If you’re supposedly best friends. Paisley said she doesn’t have any friends. That’s kind of suspicious, don’t you think?”

“Marigold’s a secretive person. Who knows how many things she hasn’t told you.” They finally looked up from their phone.

Felix scoffed. He couldn’t believe them. They stood here, acting like they knew Paisley. They had even said it themself: it had to be at least nine years since the two of them had last spoke. Yet they stood there, acting like they knew Paisley more than Felix, more than Reagan. Like Felix hadn’t known Paisley since he was seven years old. She’d raised him. Paisley wasn’t a liar - it was one of the things he liked best about her and Reagan. Knowing that he could always be himself, that they didn’t have to ever hide anything at home.

Haven didn’t know what she was talking about.

“Paisley isn’t like that.” He retorted with a huff. “You must not know him very well.”

Just then Gunther came out of the washroom, interrupting their conversation. “We going now?”

“Mhm.” Haven smiled and waved at Felix once more, walking away with Gunther. “It was nice meeting you, Leonardo.”

Felix eyed them, scowling. “It’s Felix.”

“Oh, and Felix,” They stopped to turn back to him for a final time. “Tell Paisley that they’re always welcomed back to Paradise.”

Felix gaped at them. “What does that mean?”

Haven did not answer, heading out the door after Gunther. Felix was left to wonder if he’d ever find out what Paradise even was. He was too shocked to even go after them again, so he just headed back to the gym, with nothing better to do.

Reagan and Paisley were just down the hall, finished with Mr. Noy.

“Why were you talking to her?” Paisley asked, not sounding very happy. Felix shrugged, coming up with the quickest lie he could muster: “I like her hair.” It was technically true, because Haven did have a cool hair cut - a blond buzz cut with black stars dyed in.

Paisley didn’t look impressed by that at all. “That’s why you went chasing after her?”

“They seem interesting. They said you’re welcomed back to Paradise, by the way.” Felix said, hoping Paisley would give him some inkling on what that exactly meant. Paisley nodded. “Well, let’s go home now.” She didn’t acknowledge the Paradise part.

The three of them made their way home, but this time the night air felt cooler. Reagan and Paisley weren’t holding hands anymore, weren’t talking anymore, or even looking at each other anymore. They walked in complete silence, staggered at different paces. Reagan fiddled with her ring, lost in thought. Paisley had their hands in his pockets, and she seemed to be in some sort of daze.

By the time they had made it into the house and headed up to their apartment, Reagan and Paisley were deep in a heated argument. Paisley banged dishes around, preparing supper, throwing back scathing remarks at Reagan. Felix couldn’t remember the last time they’d had a huge fight like this. He couldn’t place a time, at least not in front of him, and not this loud. Reagan sounded like she was crying.

Felix disappeared into his room, trying to block out the noise, his head buzzing with a million different thoughts. Reagan and Paisley were still yelling at each other in the kitchen, growing more angry by the minute.

He couldn’t get Haven out of his head. She had mentioned someplace called Paradise, someplace that made Paisley’s expression harden at the sound of its name. The whole thing gave him a horrible sinking feeling in his gut. He had never heard Paisley raise his voice before, had never seen Paisley so shaken up like they were now. He laid on his bed, Haven’s words repeating in his head, a hundred questions all going unanswered.

“That’s a personal secret.” Gunther had said, so many months ago, when Felix had interrogated him about the other possible Diole that fixed his leg. Gunther knew something he didn’t… Felix was sure, he knew what Haven was talking about.

Paradise.

He was left to wonder what else Gunther knew, what else he was hiding. Left to wonder if he’d ever find out.